Pathological characteristics of sudden death caused by coronary thrombosis / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore medico-legal characteristics of sudden death caused by coronary heart disease combined with coronary thrombosis.@*METHODS@#Ninety-six cases of sudden death caused by coronary heart disease were collected and divided into two groups: thrombus positive and thrombus negative groups. The time onset, induction and pathological features of coronary artery disease were analyzed.@*RESULTS@#Two groups showed man-dominant population. There were no statistical significant differences in season, circadian rhythm and induction factor. The thrombus positive group (age < 40) showed a higher disease incidence. Heart weight and degree of coronary stenosis were lower in thrombus positive group. However, there was no statistical difference in the number of atherosclerotic coronary arteries (> or = 2), the length of coronary lesions and myocardial infarct. But thrombosis positive group showed lower tendency.@*CONCLUSION@#Two groups are man-dominant population and similar induction factor, lesion position, mechanism of death. But thrombus positive group appeared more in a younger population and the degree of coronary stenosis is milder than thrombus negative group. Forensic pathologists should pay more attention to these characteristics in death investigation.

The changes of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in rat's brain / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To apply Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to study the process of postmortem degradation of the rat brain and to provide a new way for the estimation of postmortem interval (PMI).@*METHODS@#The rats were sacrificed by cervical dislocation and the bodies were kept in a controlled environmental chamber set at (30 +/- 2) degrees C. To measure the content of the chemical groups in postmortem rat brains at the different time points from 0 to 36 h using the FTIR spectrograph.@*RESULTS@#With prolongation of PMI, the peak position of main absorbance bands in the FTIR spectra showed no significant changes, while the peak levels showed dramatic changes: (1) The relative peak intensity of 1080 cm(-1), 1238 cm(-1) (I1080/I1398, I1238/I1398) associated with nucleic acid decreased obviously; (2) The peak intensity ratio at Amide I, II (I1647/I1541) decreased; (3) The peak intensities at 1456 cm(-1) and 1398 cm(-1) showed a decreased and an increased trend, respectively; (4) Compared to the peak intensity of 1647 cm(-1), the peak intensities at 2852 cm(-1), 2871 cm(-1), 2923 cm(-1), and 2958 cm(-1) tended to increase, with only a slightly increased tendency in peak intensity of 2871 cm(-1).@*CONCLUSION@#FTIR spectroscopy may be potentially used as an effective method for estimating the PMI in medicolegal practice using brain tissue sample.

Expression of synaptophysin in experimental diffuse brain injury / 法医学杂志

OBJECT@#To investigate the changes in the expression_level of synaptophysin following diffuse brain injury (DBI) in rats and to correlate the changes of the synaptophysin expression_level with the post injury time interval.@*METHODS@#Wister rats were used as a DBI model induced by Marmarou method. The changes of synaptophysin immunoreactivity on coronal sections of the rats sampled at different post-injury time intervals were used as a marker. The densitometry of the synaptophysin immunoreactivity was documented by imaging technique and analyzed by SPSS software.@*RESULTS@#The expression level of synaptophysin in DBI rats showed dynamic changes following DBI as well as during the repairing period.@*CONCLUSION@#The changes of synaptophysin level may be used as a marker for estimation of the post injury time interval in DBI.