Post-mortem chemistry

The vitreous humor is four to five milliliters of colorless gel in the vitreous body of the eye. Because of its location and the inert nature of the vitreous humor, it is resistant to some of the post-mortem changes that occur in the rest of the body. This is what makes it useful in determining the time since death, along with the fact that it is not affected by age, sex, or cause of death.[2] One of the reasons sampling vitreous humour is common is because if the sample being taken for examination is not in contact with blood it can then be clinically tested at a much lower cost. The viscosity of the vitreous humour will be increased after time of death due to water escaping. This requires for the sample to follow certain preparation steps before it can be used for analysis. Standard treatment prior to use of the sample might be required for the accuracy of pipetting. Such as diluting, centrifuging, heating and even the addition of certain analytes.[3] It is also useful as a source of DNA or for diagnosing diseases. The vitreous humor contains various electrolytes, including but not limited to sodium, potassium, chlorine, calcium, and magnesium. The concentrations of these electrolytes can be measured with analyzers and related to the time since death with various equations.[2] There are various equations because each study has different results, which results in different equations. This is because there are so many factors and differences in experiments that a single equation cannot be determined to be better than the rest. One of these factors is temperature. At higher temperatures, the concentrations are less stable and the degradation of the sample speeds up.[4] The temperature can be controlled once a sample is in the lab, but until then, the body will be the same temperature as the environment it was in. If the same equation is used for a sample that was not kept cold, then the result will not be accurate if the equation is for samples kept cold. Even though different equations have been found, the general trends are in agreement. As the time of death increases, the potassium concentration in the vitreous humor rises, and the sodium and calcium concentrations fall. The ratio of potassium to sodium decreases linearly with time. The reason that the potassium levels rise after death is because of a leak in the cell membrane that allows the concentration to reach equilibrium with the potassium levels in the blood plasma. This method is not exact, but a good estimate for the time since death can be obtained.[2]

Cerebrospinal fluid is found in the brain and spinal cord. It is a clear fluid that provides a barrier to absorb shock and prevent injury to the brain. It is useful for diagnosing neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimers. There are various substances in the cerebrospinal fluid that can be measured including urea, glucose, potassium, chloride, sodium, protein, creatinine, calcium, alkaline phosphatase, and cortisol.[5] Different things can be learned about the person or how the died by looking at the concentrations of some of these substances. For example, high levels of urea can indicate kidney damage. High levels of cortisol, the hormone released under stress, could indicate a violent death. Creatinine is stable post-mortem, so the concentration at death is preserved. This is also helpful to determine the kidney function of an individual. Sodium and Potassium can also be measured in the cerebrospinal fluid to predict the time since death,[5] but it is not as accurate as it would be if the vitreous humor was used, since it has a lower correlation.[4]

When blood is used for toxicology testing, drugs of abuse are the usual targets of analysis. Other substances that may be looked for are medications that are known to be prescribed to the individual or poisons if it is suspected.[8]

Tissues can be analyzed to help determine a cause of death. The tissue samples that are most commonly analyzed are the liver, kidney, brain, and lungs.[6]

Hair samples can also be analyzed post-mortem to determine if there was a history of drug use or poisoning due to the fact that many substances stay in the hair for a long time. The hair can be separated into sections and a month by month analysis can be performed. Fingernails and hair follicles can also be analyzed for DNA evidence.[6]

The stomach contents can also be analyzed. This can help with the post-mortem interval identification by looking at the stage of digestion. The contents can also be analyzed for drugs or poisons to help determine a cause of death if it is unknown.