In Vitro Animal Model for Estimating the Time since Death with Attention to Early Postmortem Stage.

Estimating the postmortem interval (PMI) has remained the subject of investigations in forensic medicine for many years. Every kind of death results in changes in metabolites in body tissues and fluids due to lack of oxygen, altered circulation, enzymatic reactions, cellular degradation, and cessation of anabolic production of metabolites. Metabolic changes may provide markers determining the time since death, which is challenging in current analytical and observation-based methods. The study includes metabolomics analysis of blood with the use of an animal model to determine the biochemical changes following death. LC-MS is used to fingerprint postmortem porcine blood. Metabolites, significantly changing in blood after death, are selected and identified using univariate statistics. Fifty-one significant metabolites are found to help estimate the time since death in the early postmortem stage. Hypoxanthine, lactic acid, histidine, and lysophosphatidic acids are found as the most promising markers in estimating an early postmortem stage. Selected lysophosphatidylcholines are also found as significantly increased in blood with postmortal time, but their practical utility as PMI indicators can be limited due to a relatively low increasing rate. The findings demonstrate the great potential of LC-MS-based metabolomics in determining the PMI due to sudden death and provide an experimental basis for applying this attitude in investigating various mechanisms of death. As we assume, our study is also one of the first in which the porcine animal model is used to establish PMI metabolomics biomarkers.

Peroxynitrite--altered platelet mitochondria--a new link between inflammation and hemostasis.

Using porcine blood, we tested the hypothesis that peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) may affect platelet-fibrin clot formation, clot retraction rate (CRR) and fibrinolysis through the inhibition of platelet energy production. It was found that ONOO(-) reduces CRR and enlarges final clot size in platelet rich plasma (PRP) (IC(50)=100µM) and in whole blood (IC(50)=200µM) dose-dependently. In a reconstituted system (washed platelets+fibrinogen), CRR was inhibited by 5-100nM ONOO(-) (IC(50)=25nM). Concentrations of ONOO(-) reducing CRR in PRP, inhibited platelet oxygen consumption, augmented lactate production and decreased total ATP contents in clots derived from PRP. In washed platelets ONOO(-) (5-20nM) produced a drop of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential (ΔΨ(m)). Blocking of mitochondrial energy production resulted in a reduction of CRR, whereas inhibition of glycolysis failed to affect CRR. ONOO(-), up to 300µM, failed to affect coagulation in platelet free plasma. Fibrinolysis of platelet-fibrin clots was enhanced by ONOO(-) (25-300µM), cytochalasin B and following the reduction of platelet energy production. Fibrinolysis of plasma clots was resistant to ONOO(-) treatment up to a concentration of 500µM. Tromboelastometry (ROTEM) measurements performed in PRP show that inhibition of platelet energy production or treatment with ONOO(-) (100-300µM) diminishes MCF, alpha angle and MCE parameters. Blockage the platelet contractile apparatus by cytochalasin B resulted in reduction of CRR and ROTEM variables (MCF, alpha angle, MCE). We conclude that physiologically relevant ONOO(-) concentrations may inhibit clot retraction, reduce clot stability and accelerate its lysis through the inhibition of platelet mitochondrial energy production.

Inflammatory markers and acid-base equilibrium in exhaled breath condensate of stable and unstable asthma patients.

BACKGROUND: Nitrosative and acid stress play an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether, in asthmatics, a link exists between the concentrations of nitrite/nitrate, ammonia and pH values in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and asthma severity, lung function, exhaled nitric oxide (F(ENO)), total IgE, eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and blood eosinophilia. METHODS: The above-mentioned parameters were measured in 19 healthy volunteers and 91 allergic asthmatics divided into three groups, i.e. 22 subjects with steroid-naïve stable asthma, 35 with inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-treated stable asthma and 34 with ICS-treated unstable asthma. RESULTS: Compared with healthy subjects, EBC from asthmatics had significantly lower pH values and ammonia concentrations and significantly higher levels of nitrite/nitrate. The extent of these changes was higher in patients with unstable than in patients with steroid-naïve and stable ICS-treated asthma. The EBC pH was positively correlated with ammonia and negatively correlated with nitrite/nitrate, F(ENO) or blood eosinophilia in all three groups of asthmatics. Significant positive correlations between EBC nitrite/nitrate and blood eosinophilia, ECP levels or F(ENO) were observed in all groups of asthmatics. Significant negative correlations between EBC ammonia and nitrite/nitrate, F(ENO), ECP concentrations or blood eosinophilia were demonstrated in the groups of ICS-naïve and ICS-treated stable asthmatics. CONCLUSIONS: In asthmatic patients there is a relationship between EBC pH, ammonia and nitrite/nitrate concentrations and other recognized markers of airway inflammation. EBC pH values, ammonia and nitrite/nitrate levels measured together may help to assess airway inflammatory status and asthma severity.