Forensic pathologists usually evaluate injury vitality through the identification of red blood cells in wounded tissues. Haematoxylin and eosin stain is one of the most commonly used histological stains to do this evaluation. Unfortunally this microscopic technique is not reliable in decomposed bodies because erythrocytes are often lysed and not recognizable. Although a lot of researches have attempted to use histological and immunohistochemical methods to analyze the vitality of lesions of soft tissues, there is still no conclusive tools to determined whether a wound is ante-mortem or post-mortem in decomposed corpses. The impossibility to recognize red blood cells in histological samples with haematoxylin and eosin stain does not exclude the possibility to identify their specific components. In particular haemoglobin chain seem to be one of the most resistant elements to putrescence. We tested the usefulness of the immunohistochemical technique using antibodies against haemoglobin alpha chain on formalin fixed–paraffin embedded tissue sections in some cases of decomposed corpses in the aim to understand which lesions were ante-mortem and which post-mortem. We try to use it in some murdered cases that gave us some problems about vitality diagnosis of the lesions. The employment of anti-haemoglobin alpha chain antibody allowed us to validate the results of haematoxylin-eosin analysis and understand which lesions were really dealt to kill and which not (made as an attempt to hide the corpse or by animals). These preliminary data suggest that immunohistochemical analysis could be a useful tool in determination of wound vitality. Additional studies are necessary to confirm our results and to propose a standardized method for all forensic cases.
Immunohistochemical Study Of Haemoglobin Alpha Chain For Wounds Vitality Evaluation
OSCULATI, ANTONIO MARCO MARIA
2012-01-01
Abstract
Forensic pathologists usually evaluate injury vitality through the identification of red blood cells in wounded tissues. Haematoxylin and eosin stain is one of the most commonly used histological stains to do this evaluation. Unfortunally this microscopic technique is not reliable in decomposed bodies because erythrocytes are often lysed and not recognizable. Although a lot of researches have attempted to use histological and immunohistochemical methods to analyze the vitality of lesions of soft tissues, there is still no conclusive tools to determined whether a wound is ante-mortem or post-mortem in decomposed corpses. The impossibility to recognize red blood cells in histological samples with haematoxylin and eosin stain does not exclude the possibility to identify their specific components. In particular haemoglobin chain seem to be one of the most resistant elements to putrescence. We tested the usefulness of the immunohistochemical technique using antibodies against haemoglobin alpha chain on formalin fixed–paraffin embedded tissue sections in some cases of decomposed corpses in the aim to understand which lesions were ante-mortem and which post-mortem. We try to use it in some murdered cases that gave us some problems about vitality diagnosis of the lesions. The employment of anti-haemoglobin alpha chain antibody allowed us to validate the results of haematoxylin-eosin analysis and understand which lesions were really dealt to kill and which not (made as an attempt to hide the corpse or by animals). These preliminary data suggest that immunohistochemical analysis could be a useful tool in determination of wound vitality. Additional studies are necessary to confirm our results and to propose a standardized method for all forensic cases.
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