Feature analysis of 438 cases of suicidal death with mental disorders in Shanghai Pudong New Area / 复旦学报（医学版）

Objective To analyze the general characteristics of suicide in patients with mental illness,to discuss the characteristics of suicide death,and to provide reference for the social intervention of suicide in the early stages.Methods We collected the suicide cases of 438 patients with mental illness in Shanghai Pudong New Area from 2007 to 2016,and analyzed their sex,age,way of death and cause of death.Results In these 438 cases of suicide,women were significantly more than men.The age mainly distributed between 30 and 70 years old,and the highest of incidence rate occurred between 60 and 70 years old.Among these patients,the youngest one was 11 years old,and the oldest one was 93 years old.Depression (48.2％) was the leading cause for suicide,followed by schizophrenia (16.7％),paranoia (1.6％) and anxiety (0.9％).Jumping from height (43.6％) and hanging (31.5％) were the most common ways of suicide.There was pre-signal (suicide notes,expression of suicidal and suicidal history) in 47 cases.Conclusions Mental disorders,especially depression,has become an indispensable fator in the suicide people.We should pay enough attention to early intervention and treatment in order to avoid tragedy again.

Relationship between PMI and relative expression of myocardial various RNAs in rats died of different causes / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the changes of relative expression of myocardial various RNAs in rats died of different causes and their relationship with PMI.@*METHODS@#The rat models were established in which the rats were sacrificed by broken neck, asphyxia, and hemorrhagic shock. Total RNAs were extracted from myocardium. The quantitative real time PCR was used to calculate threshold cycle values of RNAs including glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), beta-actin, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and U6 small nuclear RNA (U6 snRNA) and to study the changes of the relative expressions of various indexes with PMI.@*RESULTS@#U6 snRNA with stable expression level could be used as appropriate internal control. In the early PMI, the relative expression of GAPDH, HIF-1, iNOS, TNF-alpha, and IL-6 more characteristically increased in groups of asphyxia and hemorrhagic shock than in group of broken neck, but the quantity of beta-actin decreased in all groups. In the late PMI, all the relative expressions significantly declined in correlation with the degradation of RNA.@*CONCLUSION@#The characteristic changes of each RNA expression can be used as references to estimate PMI in deaths by different causes.

Application of molecular autopsy in sudden death caused by inherited arrhythmia / 法医学杂志

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) refers to sudden stop of breath and heartbeat and death within one hour caused by underlying cardiac diseases. Clinical manifestation of inherited arrhythmia is lethal arrhythmia without gross cardiac lesions, which can lead to SCD. The autopsy and pathological examination are difficult to identify the cause of death. Fatal mechanism of inherited arrhythmia is the change in the genes encoding for cardiac ion channel protein, which causes the dysfunctions of cardiac electrical activity. It is very important to detect genetic mutation by the technique of molecular biology in negative autopsy. This review presents the latest research on the relation between SCD and inherited arrhythmia, and the application of molecular autopsy used in identifying SCD due to inherited arrhythmia and its candidate gene.

Application of nucleic acids and proteins in estimation of postmortem interval / 法医学杂志

Accurate estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) is one of the most important and difficult issues in forensic medicine. After death, the tissues autolyze and biomacromolecules degrade. DNA concentration decreases gradually with linear relationship with PMI. The housekeeping gene mRNA, for example beta-actin, GAPDH, has certain stability and can be used to PMI estimation as internal standard. This paper reviews the research progress and problems about DNA, RNA and proteins in the estimation of PMI in order to provide guidance for forensic pathology.

Estimation of early postmortem interval using beta-actin mRNA in rat's brain, heart and kidney / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the relationship between beta-actin mRNA degradation in SD rat's brain, heart and kidney and early postmortem interval (PMI) in order to find new markers for estimating early PMI.@*METHODS@#Rats were sacrificed and kept in the place at a temperature of 20 degrees C. The total RNA were extracted from the brain, heart and kidney at different PMI points. Real time RT-PCR was applied to determine beta-actin mRNA levels in total RNA and the results were given in the form of Ct values. Linear relationships between PMI and Ct values were obtained and the functions of linear regression were established.@*RESULTS@#The great decrease of beta-actin mRNA level were observed in the three organs. The degradation rate was obviously higher in 24 hours after death in the heart and kidney. However, there were no significant changes in the brain. The changes of Ct values and PMI showed a good linear relationship.@*CONCLUSION@#beta-actin mRNA in rat's brain, heart and kidney degrades obviously after death and can be used for estimating early PMI by its degradation rules.

Estimation of postmortem interval using microRNA and 18S rRNA degradation in rat cardiac muscle / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the relationship between the time-dependent level changes of microRNA and 18S rRNA and the different postmortem interval (PMI) in rat cardiac muscle.@*METHODS@#SD rats were sacrificed by cervical dislocation and placed at ambient temperature 25 degrees C with a humidity of 50%. Total RNA was extracted from the rat cardiac muscle at different time points after death. The levels of miR-1-2 and 18S rRNA were examined using real-time PCR in rat cardiac muscle. The results were expressed by cycle threshold (Ct) value to explore relationship between PMI and Ct value, and the regression functions were established to estimate PMI.@*RESULTS@#The miR-1-2 level in rat myocardial tissue showed no significant changes within 120 h after death, and then began to decline. The 18S rRNA level increased gradually within 96 h after death, and then declined slowly. The nonlinear relationships were established between Ct value (18S rRNA), deltaCt value (difference between 18S rRNA and miR-1-2) and PMI. The R2 of conics fitting were 0.9487 and 0.8072, respectively.@*CONCLUSION@#Ct value of 18S rRNA and deltaCt value present a good correlation with PMI, and can be markers for estimating early PMI.