Histobiochemical changes in early postmortem interval in liver, pancreas, skin and kidney of adult male albino rats; [Bewertung der histologischen und biochemischen Veränderungen in Leber, Bauchspeicheldrüse, Haut und Niere erwachsener männlicher Albinoratten im frühen Postmortem-Intervall]

Determining the time that elapsed since death to solve suspicious death circumstances and help criminal investigations is very important in forensic medicine. This study aimed to evaluate the early postmortem changes. It correlated the results of oxidative stress markers with the histological and immunohistochemical examinations of the liver, pancreas, skin, and kidney of adult male albino rats. The study included 30 adult male albino rats housed in wire mesh cages and ad libitum access to water at room temperature (22–25 °C). Rats were divided into five groups (n = 6) for acclimatization over 1 week. All rats were sacrificed following anesthesia and organs (liver, pancreas, skin, and kidney) were obtained by dissection at 0 (control), 8, 24, 48, and 72 h. The postmortem interval correlated with tissue levels of malondialdehyde, reduced glutathione and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) with hematoxylin and eosin, immunohistochemical and anti-p53 antibody for p53 protein detection, which regulates cell cycle and death. The analyzed oxidants, antioxidant stress markers, and LDH in different tissues showed significant changes in the current study depending on the time elapsed since death. Histological changes showed time-dependent variations. Gradual autolysis and loss of cellular structure, shape, and arrangement due to postmortem anoxia were observed in addition to oxidative stress conditions of different tissues and LDH release until 72 h after death. The combination of biochemical, histological, and immunohistochemical changes may be useful supplementary parameters in the early postmortem interval forensic evaluation. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.