ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 1 July 1986
Page Count: 10

3-Methoxytyramine in the Putamen as a Gauge of the Postmortem Interval
Sparks, DL
Assistant professor of neurology and Sanders-Brown Research Center on Aging, University of Kentucky Medical Center, KY

Hunsaker, JC
Assistant professor of pathology, University of Kentucky Medical Center,

Slevin, JT
Assistant professor of neurology, pharmacology, toxicology, and Sanders-Brown Research Center on Aging, University of Kentucky and VA Medical Center,

(Received 20 September 1985; accepted 19 November 1985)

Abstract

The armamentarium of the forensic thanatologist includes the examiner's subjective assessment of bodily changes together with comprehensive evaluation of environmental and associated factors to estimate the postmortem interval (PMI). Of the various objective means, postmortem accumulation of potassium in vitreous humor is a widely used gauge. In view of the considerable variability inherent in these techniques, an additional marker with greater accuracy would be a welcome supplement to these indices.

We have developed a method of estimating PMI from the level of 3-methoxytyramine (3-MT) in the dorsal putamen of the brain. The supernatent of a sample of putamen, sonicated in 6 volumes (weight/volume) of 0.1 M perchloric acid and centrifuged at 51 000 times gravity for 10 min, was analyzed for 3-MT using high-pressure liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. The change of 3-MT in the putamen is linearly related to the PMI (range: 5.5 to 60 h), irrespective of patient age (1 to 84 years). This observation is attributable to several factors, including high substrate (dopamine) concentration, preservation of catechol-O-methyl transferase activity, and an inactivation of monoamine oxidase activity, as a result of a decrease in tissue pO².

Keywords:
pathology and biology, postmortem examinations, time of death, death, postmortem interval, postmortem chemistry, neurochemistry, dopaminergic systems of the central nervous system, thanatology, neuroscience

Paper ID: JFS11104J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS11104J
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