Estimation of time since death using cardiac troponin I in case of death due to asphyxia and cardiotoxicity of acebutolol.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the degradation pattern of cardiac troponin I in rats in vivo, and to determine whether the pattern was dependent on the cause of death, for the purpose of estimating the postmortem interval. The rats were categorized into three distinct groups depending on the factors leading to their demise: the control group, the group experiencing acebutolol-induced cardiotoxicity, and the group affected by asphyxia. The analysis encompassed the isolation and segregation of the protein, subsequently employing Western blotting as a means of visualizing the results. The results revealed a distinct degradation pattern of cTnI into smaller fragments over time, indicating that cardiac troponin I can serve as a reliable marker for estimating the postmortem interval. Furthermore, noteworthy variations were noted in the degradation pattern of cardiac troponin I among the different causes of death, which suggests that this method can also be used to determine whether cardiac failure was the cause of death or not.