Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, 65211, Egypt.
Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, 11511, Egypt.
J Forensic Leg Med. 2024 Aug;106:102726. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2024.102726. Epub 2024 Jul 22.
The assessment of the postmortem interval (PMI) represents one of the major challenges in forensic pathology. Because of their stability, microRNAs, or miRNAs, are anticipated to be helpful in forensic research.
To see if estimation of PMI is possible using miRNA-21 and Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) expression levels in the heart samples from aluminum phosphide toxicity (Alpt).
This was a cross sectional study on 60 post-mortem samples (heart tissues) collected at different intervals during forensic autopsies. The two groups were allocated equally according to the cause of death into Group I (non-toxicated deaths, n = 30): Deaths caused by other than toxicity, and Group II (toxicated deaths, n = 30): Deaths due to Alpt. MDA (Malondialdehyde) and GSH (Glutathione), were measured in heart tissues using ELIZA. MiRNA- 21and HIF-1α expression levels were measured in heart tissues at different PMI using RT-Q PCR. ROC curve for detection of toxicated deaths using miRNA-21 and HIF was carried out.
miRNA-21 and HIF-1α expression levels in Alp deaths were up regulated while GSH was downregulated with statistically significant difference. There was positive correlation between miRNA-21, HIF-1α and MDA with PMI while there was negative correlation between GSH and PMI in Alp deaths. In prediction of post mortem interval in Alp deaths miRNA-21 sensitivity and specificity were (75.9 %, 51.7 %, respectively) while HIF-1α sensitivity and specificity were 100 %.
PMI can be calculated using the degree to which particular miRNA-21 and HIF-1α are expressed in the heart tissue. The combination of miRNA-21 with HIF-1α in post mortem estimation is precious indicators.
死后时间间隔（PMI）的评估是法医病理学的主要挑战之一。由于其稳定性，microRNAs（miRNAs）有望在法医研究中有所帮助。
观察在磷化铝毒性（Alpt）的心脏样本中miRNA-21 和缺氧诱导因子-1α（HIF-1α）表达水平是否可用于估计 PMI。
这是一项在法医尸检期间不同时间采集的 60 个死后样本（心脏组织）的横断面研究。根据死因将两组平均分为两组：I 组（非中毒死亡，n=30）：非毒性死亡；和 II 组（中毒死亡，n=30）：Alpt 引起的死亡。使用 ELISA 测量心脏组织中的 MDA（丙二醛）和 GSH（谷胱甘肽）。使用 RT-Q PCR 在不同 PMI 下测量心脏组织中的 miRNA-21 和 HIF-1α表达水平。使用 miRNA-21 和 HIF 进行中毒死亡检测的 ROC 曲线。
Alp 死亡中 miRNA-21 和 HIF-1α 的表达水平上调，而 GSH 下调，差异具有统计学意义。在 Alp 死亡中，miRNA-21、HIF-1α 和 MDA 与 PMI 之间存在正相关，而 GSH 与 PMI 之间存在负相关。在 Alp 死亡中预测 PMI 时，miRNA-21 的灵敏度和特异性分别为（75.9%，51.7%），而 HIF-1α 的灵敏度和特异性均为 100%。
可以通过心脏组织中特定 miRNA-21 和 HIF-1α 的表达程度来计算 PMI。miRNA-21 与 HIF-1α 结合在死后估计中是宝贵的指标。
