Collagen degradation as a possibility to determine the post-mortem interval (PMI) of human bones in a forensic context – A survey

Jellinghaus, Katharina; Urban, Petra Kathrin; Hachmann, Carolin; Bohnert, Michael; Hotz, Günter; Rosendahl, Wilfried; Wittwer-Backofen, Ursula

doi:10.1016/j.legalmed.2018.11.009

Cited by 22 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Intra-group analysis showed that the period of burial was inversely correlated with the bone integrity index, showing that the longer bone remains interred, the lower its integrity ( Table 1). Similar findings were reported in studies that correlated post mortem interval (PMI) and loss of collagen in human and non-human bones [60,61]. While the number of osteocyte lacunae present in the exhumed bone group showed no difference in comparison to the control group, the number of osteocytes was significantly lower.…”

Section: Fsi _2018supporting

confidence: 86%

The impact of burial period on compact bone microstructure: Histological analysis of matrix loss and cell integrity in human bones exhumed from tropical soil

Astolphi

Alves

Evison

et al. 2019

Forensic Science International

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Fsi _2018supporting

confidence: 86%

The impact of burial period on compact bone microstructure: Histological analysis of matrix loss and cell integrity in human bones exhumed from tropical soil

Astolphi

Alves

Evison

et al. 2019

Forensic Science International

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, collagen considered as an ultimate parameter for determination of PMI because it degraded slowly by the time after death if compared to other functional or structural proteins (Mazzotti et al, 2019). Until now, histochemical studies on degradation of collagen have been done in skeletonized human remains for the determination of PMI (Boaks et al, 2014;Jellinghaus et al, 2018;Jellinghaus et al, 2019). Moreover, immunohistochemistry for collagen proteins in gingival tissue was only done by Mazzotti et al (2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of postmortem interval through histopathological alterations and collagen evaluation in the prostate of Wistar albino rats

Elgawish¹,

Abdelrazek²,

Desouky³

et al. 2021

Zagazig Journal of Forensic Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Determination of postmortem interval (PMI) has always been a fundamental issue in forensic fields. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess usefulness of histopathological changes and collagen degradation in the prostate for estimation of PMI in adult male rats. Methods: Forty male albino rats were euthanized using CO2 chamber and then classified randomly into 8 groups; each group consisted of 5 rats. Rats were used for determining postmortem changes at 0, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 and 72 hs. Sections of prostate were fixed and stained for histopathology and quantitative analysis of collagen by Masson trichrome. Moreover, slices of 5µm mounted on positively charged slides were carried out for collagen III immunohistochemistry. Results: The prostate showed normal histology at 0 and 6 hs postmortem (PM). While, at 12 hs, most sections of the gland revealed no abnormalities except for mild focal widening between the acini. Starting from 24 hs, epithelial desquamation was seen in most acini. Seventy-two hours, obvious necrosis of prostatic acini appeared in most of samples. Degradation of collagen started and the spaces between acini became wide at 12 and 24 hs PM. Complete loss of stain reactivity was observed at both 60 and 72 hs. Moreover, a significant decrease in the amount of collagen's stained areas in the prostate started from 12 hs. Positive immunohistochemical reaction of collagen III was detected at 0, 6 and 12 hs PM. However, it was completely lost at 60 and 72 hs. Interestingly, the immuno-reactive area of collagen III was significantly increased at 6 hs, then a remarkable decline in immuno-reactive area was observed at 12 hs. Conclusion: Collagen type III proved to be a successful parameter with histopathology in determination of PM interval. However, further studies still needed to confirm the accuracy of these parameters.

show abstract

“…This was due to several reasons, including: (i) the use of unfavorably small sample sizes of 1–3 individuals (e.g., one individual per tested temperature regime); (ii) imprecise or missing reporting on sampling procedures and sites, and procedures of measurement and data analysis, together impeding reproducibility; and (iii) lack of complete outcome data. Only one study [ 21 ] reported blinding of the assessors, even though the combination of subjective evaluation based on unclear criteria and lack of blinding is particularly prone to increase the risk of bias. This adds importance to insufficient information on immunostaining intensity classification in two of the studies [ 19 , 25 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two studies evaluated the effect of sex on protein degradation in human skeletal muscle [ 12 ] and bone [ 21 ] using targeted cluster analysis after a demonstration of postmortem protein degradation with Western blots and a stereoscopic analysis of histologic specimens, respectively. For skeletal muscle proteins, the results revealed no major differences between male and female sex, with one exception: skeletal muscle desmin exhibited a sex-specific degradation pattern, with a slightly faster decomposition in women ( Figure 4 ).…”

Section: Synthesis Of Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influencing Factors on Postmortem Protein Degradation for PMI Estimation: A Systematic Review

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present review provides an overview of the current research status on the effects of influencing factors on postmortem protein degradation used to estimate the PMI (postmortem interval). Focus was set on characteristics of internal and external influencing factors and the respective susceptibility and/or robustness of protein degradation. A systematic literature search up to December 2020 was conducted on the effect of influencing factors investigated in the context of postmortem protein degradation in the tissues of animals and humans using the scientific databases PubMed and Google Scholar, as well as the reference lists of eligible articles. We identified ten studies investigating a total of seven different influencing factors in degrading tissues/organs (n = 7) of humans and animals using six different methodological approaches. Although comparison of study outcomes was impeded by the high variety of investigated factors, and by high risk of bias appraisals, it was evident that the majority of the influencing factors concerned affected protein degradation, thus being able to modulate the precision of protein degradation-based PMI estimation. The results clearly highlight the need for a thorough screening for corresponding factors to enable the introduction of appropriate correction factors and exclusion criteria. This seems especially relevant for the protein degradation-based study of human PMI to increase the reliability and precision of the method and to facilitate a broader applicability in routine forensic casework.

show abstract

Collagen degradation as a possibility to determine the post-mortem interval (PMI) of human bones in a forensic context – A survey

Cited by 22 publications

References 16 publications

The impact of burial period on compact bone microstructure: Histological analysis of matrix loss and cell integrity in human bones exhumed from tropical soil

The impact of burial period on compact bone microstructure: Histological analysis of matrix loss and cell integrity in human bones exhumed from tropical soil

Determination of postmortem interval through histopathological alterations and collagen evaluation in the prostate of Wistar albino rats

Influencing Factors on Postmortem Protein Degradation for PMI Estimation: A Systematic Review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About