Abstract
Background: Biochemical determinations of human postmortem interval have focused on acute biomarkers of alterations in metabolites and in microbial generation of amino acids, organic acids, and volatile amines and acids. The need for a reliable biomarker of tissue deterioration on a longer time scale is clear. To determine if structural glycerophospholipids might be of value in this regard, we undertook a lipidomics evaluation of human skeletal muscle at several intervals postmortem. Methods: Human anterior quadriceps muscle was excised at 1, 9, and 24 days postmortem. Tissue was extracted with tert butyl methylether and methanol and the extracts submitted to shotgun lipidomics analysis. Results: Sterol sulfates, very-long-chain fatty acids, choline plasmalogens, ethanolamine plasmalogens, and phosphatidylglycerols all were found to decline over the 24 day postmortem period. Free fatty acids were found to increase over the same time period. Conclusion: Tissue degradation over time postmortem appears to be reliably monitored by the decline in complex structural glycerophospholipids. The contribution of microbes to this degradation remains to be defined. These preliminary data support further evaluations of this lipidomics approach.
Highlights
The postmortem changes that occur in a corpse are incredibly complex, involving metabolic changes in the corpse, in the endogenous microbiome, and in exogenous invasive microbes
While there are a number of biochemical parameters that have been used to estimate short postmortem intervals, limited efforts have been applied to investigating longer postmortem intervals
Previous biochemical analyses have focused on tissue amino and organic acid levels [1,2,3,4], aqueous humor potassium [4,5], and 3-methoxytyramine in the putamen [5,6], a metabolite of dopamine that is released postmortem [7,8], and proteins [9]
Summary
The postmortem changes that occur in a corpse are incredibly complex, involving metabolic changes in the corpse, in the endogenous microbiome, and in exogenous invasive microbes. Postmortem biochemical studies are complicated by the multiple sources of metabolites These include metabolites from the corpse, the GI flora of the corpse, and invasive microbes after death. These diverse metabolic sources make the interpretation of amino and organic acid analyses difficult. Structural glycerophospholipids (GPL) are one of the most abundant lipid families that are critical for membrane and organelle integrity The breakdown of these structural lipids is a slow process and was anticipated to yield new biomarkers of postmortem tissue degradation. Biochemical determinations of human postmortem interval have focused on acute biomarkers of alterations in metabolites and in microbial generation of amino acids, organic acids, and volatile amines and acids. To determine if structural glycerophospholipids might be of value in this regard, we undertook a lipidomics evaluation of human skeletal muscle at several intervals postmortem
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
