Drowning is one of the common causes of death worldwide. The pathophysiology of drowning is complicated. This study is constructed to investigate the histopathological, immunohistochemical, and molecular changes in brain tissues, to identify potential biomarkers in the postmortem diagnosis of drowning. For these purposes, 15 adult rats were subjected to drowning then brain tissues were sampled at 0, 24, and 48 hours post drowning. Histopathological findings of brain sections showed brain edema and neuronal degeneration and necrosis at 24h and severe increasing in these lesions at 48h post drowning. The histopathological findings confirmed by immunohistochemical examination that revealed time-dependent positive brown staining of caspase-3 protein expressed in the cytoplasm of neurons. Moreover, the postmortem expression of Casp3, increased in a time-dependent manner. From a forensic point, molecular and immunohistochemical detection of caspase 3 in the brain of drowned animals can be considered a valuable marker to diagnose drowning and to estimate time since drowning.
Key words: Drowning; Histopathology; Apoptosis; Brain, Caspase 3, Immunohistochemistry
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