Feasibility of using tissue autolysis to estimate the postmortem interval in horses.

ABSTRACT: Estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI) is a poorly studied field in veterinary pathology. The development of field-applicable methods is needed given that animal cruelty investigations are increasing continually. We evaluated various histologic criteria in equine brain, liver, and muscle tissue to aid the estimation of PMI in horses, which is central to forensic investigations of suspicious death. After death, autolysis proceeds predictably, depending on environmental conditions. Currently, no field-applied methods exist that accurately estimate the PMI using histology in animals or humans through quantification of autolysis. Brain, liver, and skeletal muscle from 12 freshly euthanized horses were held at 22°C and 8°C for 72 h. Tissues were sampled at T0h, T1h, T2h, T4h, T6h, T12h, T2

SUBMITTER: Wenzlow N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8366236 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature