HMGB1: A new marker for estimation of the postmortem interval

Abstract

Estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI) is one of the most important tasks in forensic medicine. Numerous methods have been proposed for the determination of the time since death by chemical means. High mobility group box-1 (HMGB1), a nonhistone DNA-binding protein is released by eukaryotic cells upon necrosis. Postmortem serum levels of HMGB1 of 90 male Wistar rats stored at 4, 14 and 24°C since death were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The serum HMGB1 level showed a time-dependent increase up to seven days at 4°C. At 14°C, the HMGB1 level peaked at day 3, decreased at day 4, and then plateaued. At 24°C, the HMGB1 level peaked at day 2, decreased at day 3, and then plateaued. Our findings suggest that HMGB1 is related to the PMI in rats.

Figure 1.

HMGB1 concentration in the serum of dead Wistar rats. Ninety male Wistar rats were sacrificed and stored at 4, 14 and 24°C. At 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 days postmortem, blood samples were collected from each body. The serum HMGB1 concentration was measured by ELISA. At 24°C, the serum HMGB1 level reached a peak on the second day with time-dependent decrease in the following days whereas, at 14°C, the level reached a peak on the third day and plateaued in the following days. The HMGB1 level showed a time-dependent increase at 4°C (n=3 for each group).