Biomarker Potentials of Postmortem Vitreous Biochemical Parameters For Resolving Disputed Causes of Death by Drowning Using Animal Models

Abstract

The lack of biomarkers that can effectively reveal the cause of death when the cause of death is disguised constraints and severely limits the verdict of the coroner. This study aims to explore the discriminatory potentials of selected vitreous biochemical parameters in the autopsy of death by drowning and in death disguised as drowning using rabbits. Completely randomized block design (CRBD) was used for this study. 96 male rabbits were used for this research and were structured into four groups of twenty-four rabbits each: two treatment (test) groups and two control groups. In one test group, the death of the experimental subjects was caused by drowning. In the second test group, the death of the experimental subjects was caused by strangulation, thereafter, the dead subjects were drowned as a cover-up of the actual cause of death. The remaining two groups are the baseline controls. After a postmortem interval of twenty-four hours, vitreous samples were obtained from each group of the experimental animals by Coe and Tente’s methods. The samples were analyzed for the levels of Sodium, Potassium, Carbon iv oxide, Chloride and Calcium using ion selective electrode method, while Total protein, Albumin, Globulin, Glucose, Total cholesterol, Triacylglycerol, Urea, Creatinine, Uric acid, Creatine kinase and Lactate dehydrogenase were analyzed using their specific standard methods. Results obtained were then analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (Version 18-21) and one-way ANOVA (Post Hoc-LSD). The results show that postmortem vitreous levels of Na, K, Cl, Ca, total protein, creatinine, creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase differed significantly (P≤0.05) between samples from death caused by drowning and death by strangulation but disguised as drowning. The striking differences in the levels of these notable analytes can be utilized either as primary or confirmatory tests to reveal and discriminate between death disguised as drowning and death by actual drowning.