Biochemical Analysis on Postmortem Blood and Vitreous Humor in Cows.

Korean J Leg Med. 1999 Oct;23(2):8-15. Korean.

Division of Forensic Medicine, National Institute of Scientific Investigation, Seoul, Korea, Korea.

BACKGROUND: The determination of postmortem chemical changes and relations among body fluids is very important in medicolegal community. A laboratory result is not useful if appropriate data for comparison are lacking. We think that it is easy to collect specimens from cows and to evaluate the effect of factors which can be artificially controlled. The establishment of reference ranges of chemical constituents on body fluid in cows is the purpose of this study.METHOD: Studies were performed on 33 deceased cows at the slaugherhouse. Immediately after death, specimens were obtained from the cervial vein and both eyes. All speimens were centrifuged and the supernatants were removed and frozen at -70c until analyzed. The seven chemical contituents (total protein, glucose, creatinine, calcium, sodium and chloride and potassium) were measured, and the reference range were determined.RERULT: The mean, standard error, standard deviation and reference range of all measured constituents were shown in table 2,3. In comparison mean value of viterous humor with that of blood, the level of total protein was profoundly low (5%). Those of calcium (68%), glucose (40%), and creatinine (36%) were also low. The mean value of sodium showed the similar level (101%), but those of potassium (120%) and chloride (119%) were higher than in blood.CONCLUSION: The comparison of a locally produced, small set of values often is not appropriate because the underlying statistical assumption are not fulfulled and because of the unbalanced sample size. A more extensive study will be required, using a larger number of subjects, to establish the full range of viariablitily and the effects of factors such as temperature of the postmortem environment.

Key words: Postmortem Chemistry, Vitreous Humor, Reference Value