Wound ageing through evaluation of transforming growth factors alpha and betai expressions in human skin

ABSTRACT

Wound age provides valuable information for the reconstruction of crime scenes and determination of the cause of death. As skin covers the outersurface of the body, it is the most vulnerable part, and dermal wound age is a critical issue in routine forensic autopsies. The aim of this study was to determine the wound age by the use of immunohistochemical study of transforming growth factors [TFG-a and TGF-pl] on human skin wounds. Samples were collected from human skin wounds after operative incisions [from a few minutes to 6 weeks] and investigated using immunohistochemistry. TGF-a was started to increase after a wound age of approximately l0min. The maximum level was between 30-60min then decreased significantly. TGF-pl was also markedly increased within 60min and remained detectable in elevated levels in older wounds [6 weeks]. Thus, it appears that TGF-a and TGF-pl can efficiently contribute to the estimation of wound age based on the evaluation of their expressions. In particular, this applies to TGF-pl because it remains in high level for long time post injury