Postmortem biochemical changes of the vitreous humor in relation to the cause of death and premortal suffering period

ABSTRACT

Lactic acid, albumin, total proteins, sodium, chloride and potassium wereestimated in the vitreous humor of 30 female albino rats. Animals weredivided into five equal groups, one of them used as a control group, while theother groups were classified according to the cause of death. In thestrangulation groups, insignificant changes of lactic acid and potassiumconcentrations were observed, while other investigated items revealed highlysignificant increase. Concentrations of all the estimated materials showedsignificant increase in the bleeding and hypothermic groups. Increasingconcentrations of lactic acid and most of the estimated items seem to berelated to the increased permeability of brain cells and blood brain barrierfollowing stressful death. Also, this reflects the intensity of the braindamage and the induced effects of prolonged hypoxia caused by respiratorydepression preceding death