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Histological quantification of decomposed human livers: a potential aid for estimation of the post-mortem interval?

ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to determine if a novel scoring-based model for histological quantification of decomposed human livers could improve the precision of post-mortem interval (PMI) estimation for bodies from an indoor setting. The hepatic decomposition score (HDS) system created consists of five liver scores (HDS markers): cell nuclei and cell structure of hepatocytes, bile ducts, portal triad, and architecture. A total of 236 forensic autopsy cases were divided into a training dataset (n = 158) and a validation dataset (n = 78). All cases were also scored using the total body score (TBS) method. We specified a stochastic relationship between the log-transformed accumulated degree-days (log₁₀ADD) and the taphonomic findings, using a multivariate regression model to compute the likelihood function. Three models were applied, based on (i) five HDS markers, (ii) three partial body scores (head, trunk, limbs), or (iii) a combination of the two. The predicted log₁₀ADD was compared with the true log₁₀ADD for each case. The fitted models performed equally well in the training dataset and the validation dataset. The model comprising both scoring methods had somewhat better precision than either method separately. Our results indicated that the HDS system was statistically robust. Combining the HDS markers with the partial body scores resulted in a better representation of the decomposition process and might improve PMI estimation of decomposed human remains.

SUBMITTER: Ceciliason AS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7782410 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Histological quantification of decomposed human livers: a potential aid for estimation of the post-mortem interval?

Ceciliason Ann-Sofie AS Andersson M Gunnar MG Nyberg Sofia S Sandler Håkan H

International journal of legal medicine 20201124 1

The objective of this study was to determine if a novel scoring-based model for histological quantification of decomposed human livers could improve the precision of post-mortem interval (PMI) estimation for bodies from an indoor setting. The hepatic decomposition score (HDS) system created consists of five liver scores (HDS markers): cell nuclei and cell structure of hepatocytes, bile ducts, portal triad, and architecture. A total of 236 forensic autopsy cases were divided into a training datas ...[more]

PMID: 33236207

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Project description:BackgroundPerinatal mortality may vary between herds, but the cost of deaths are always higher than value of the calf. When diagnosing the cause of a calf's death it is important to determine when it occurred, before or after calving. Metabolomics is widely used to identify many human diseases, but quite rarely applied in veterinary science. The aim of this study was to compare the metabolic profiles of calves with different times of death and those of calves born alive. Into the study, twenty one healthy controls (singleton, normal assisted calving, born alive) and 75 stillborn (SB) calves (with a gestation length of ?260?days, SB, or dead within 6?h of birth) were enrolled. Plasma and urine from SB and control calves were investigated by proton nuclear magnetic resonance based metabolomic methods. SB calves were divided into four PMI groups. One PMI group included calves that died after calving and the other groups - three comprised in utero deaths, based on pathophysiological changes (lung inflation, autolysis in internal organs, hemoglobin imbibition in the pleura and aortic arch). Partial Least Squares - Discriminant Analysis models based on plasma metabolites were calculated, reflecting assumed data clustering.ResultsTwenty six metabolites in plasma and 29 in urine changed significantly with PMI according to one way analysis of variance. Half the metabolites in plasma and the majority in urine increased with PMI. Six metabolites increased simultaneously in plasma and urine: acetate, sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (GPC), leucine, valine, creatine, and alanine.ConclusionsPost-mortem changes in calves were associated with molecular variations in blood plasma and urine, showing the greatest differences for the group in which the post-mortem pathological changes were the most advanced. The results of the study show that evaluation of calf plasma or urine may be used as a diagnostic method for the determination of the PMI. Moreover, the metabolites, which unambiguously increased or decreased, can be used as potential biomarkers of PMI.

Project description:Due to the influence of many environmental processes, a precise determination of the post-mortem interval (PMI) of skeletal remains is known to be very complicated. Although methods for the investigation of the PMI exist, there still remains much room for improvement. In this study the applicability of infrared (IR) microscopic imaging techniques such as reflection-, ATR- and Raman- microscopic imaging for the estimation of the PMI of human skeletal remains was tested. PMI specific features were identified and visualized by overlaying IR imaging data with morphological tissue structures obtained using light microscopy to differentiate between forensic and archaeological bone samples. ATR and reflection spectra revealed that a more prominent peak at 1042 cm-1 (an indicator for bone mineralization) was observable in archeological bone material when compared with forensic samples. Moreover, in the case of the archaeological bone material, a reduction in the levels of phospholipids, proteins, nucleic acid sugars, complex carbohydrates as well as amorphous or fully hydrated sugars was detectable at (reciprocal wavelengths/energies) between 3000 cm-1 to 2800 cm-1. Raman spectra illustrated a similar picture with less ν2PO43-at 450 cm-1 and ν4PO43- from 590 cm-1 to 584 cm-1, amide III at 1272 cm-1 and protein CH2 deformation at 1446 cm-1 in archeological bone material/samples/sources. A semi-quantitative determination of various distributions of biomolecules by chemi-maps of reflection- and ATR- methods revealed that there were less carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates as well as amorphous or fully hydrated sugars in archaeological samples compared with forensic bone samples. Raman- microscopic imaging data showed a reduction in B-type carbonate and protein α-helices after a PMI of 3 years. The calculated mineral content ratio and the organic to mineral ratio displayed that the mineral content ratio increases, while the organic to mineral ratio decreases with time. Cluster-analyses of data from Raman microscopic imaging reconstructed histo-anatomical features in comparison to the light microscopic image and finally, by application of principal component analyses (PCA), it was possible to see a clear distinction between forensic and archaeological bone samples. Hence, the spectral characterization of inorganic and organic compounds by the afore mentioned techniques, followed by analyses such as multivariate imaging analysis (MIAs) and principal component analyses (PCA), appear to be suitable for the post mortem interval (PMI) estimation of human skeletal remains.

Dataset Information

Histological quantification of decomposed human livers: a potential aid for estimation of the post-mortem interval?

Publications

Histological quantification of decomposed human livers: a potential aid for estimation of the post-mortem interval?

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