RESUMO
The estimation of the time of death is a medico-legal problem only partially solved. It is an important factor for the investigation of death by defining the period during which death may have occurred. This work was designed to establish the feasibility of the concept of relating degenerative changes of the kidney to postmortem interval. Histopathological changes in the kidney tissue of rats were examined at various postmortem intervals [0, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 hours] and fixed temperature [25 °C]. Various histopathological changes were graded according to the degree and extent of autolytic changes from grade-0 to grade-6 [G-0 to G-6]. Samples were stained also with Periodic Acid-Schiff [PAS] after the standard procedure of tissue processing. Afterward, the following structures were analyzed: glomerular basal membrane, parietal layer of Bowman's capsule, tubular basal membrane and apical parts of tubular cells. Results revealed a certain autolytical order depending on the time of death. This work lends support to suggestions that renal histopathological degenerative changes can potentially aid in the estimation of postmortem interval [PMI]