Abstract
Wound vitality demonstration is one of the most challenging fields in forensic pathology. In recent years, researchers focused on the application of histological and immunohistochemical staining in this sphere of study. It is based on the detection of inflammation, red cell infiltration, and tissue alterations at the histological examination, all of which are supposedly present in antemortem rather than post-mortem wounds. Nevertheless, some doubts about the reliability of those markers have arisen. Furthermore, the lack of a standardized protocol and the operator dependency of this approach make the proper interpretation of its results difficult. Moreover, a differential miRNAs expression has been demonstrated in antemortem and post-mortem wounds. Herein, a systematic review concerning the current knowledge about the use of miRNAs in lesion vitality evaluation is carried out, to encourage researchers to deepen this peculiar study area. A compendium about the potential miRNAs that may be further investigated as vitality markers is also provided. The aim is to collect all available data about this topic to direct further studies on this field and highlight the future applications of miRNAs in forensic pathology. We found 20 articles and a total of 51 miRNAs that are involved in inflammation and wound healing. Further studies are certainly needed to deepen the role of miRNAs in inflammatory processes in lesioned skin and to evaluate their reliability in distinguishing between antemortem and post-mortem lesions.
Highlights
Wound vitality demonstration is one of the most challenging fields in forensic pathology
Two researchers (A.C.M., E.M.) independently examined the papers with titles or abstracts that appeared to be relevant and selected those that analyzed miRNAs involved in wound vitality demonstration and miRNAs involved in wound healing that may be further investigated as vitality markers in post-mortem samples
As a result of our research, we found that 51 miRNAs are implied in wound healing and wound vitality demonstration
Summary
Wound vitality demonstration is one of the most challenging fields in forensic pathology. It has been classically based on the presence of inflammation, red cell infiltration, and tissue alterations at the histological examination [1–4]. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short single-strand non-coding ribonucleic acids that have a fundamental role in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression, mainly inhibiting the mRNA translation [13–15]. Due to their ubiquity, they can be used as a diagnostic tool in different clinical areas, as well as in forensic pathology [16]. A differential miRNA expression in antemortem and post-mortem wounds has been observed [17–19].
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