Identification of Biomarkers in the Legal Medical Skin Wounds

Identification of Protein Markers of Vitality in Skin Wounds by Forensic Multiplex Analysis

Identify the cytokine or combination of cytokines, with the best diagnostic performance to characterize the vital nature of a skin wound in the body.

Determining the vitality of skin wounds, that is to say their antemortem character, is an important issue in forensic pathology. The only criterion vitality currently recognized (but whose diagnostic performance remains limited) is the microscopic demonstration of an inflammatory infiltrate of neutrophils. The search for more reliable diagnostic biomarkers is required. By their early expression of the injury site, inflammatory cytokines are potential candidates and their quantification in injured skin could optimize the diagnosis of vitality injury.

The objective is to identify the cytokine or combination of cytokines, with the best diagnostic performance to characterize the vital nature of a skin wound in the body.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult died 18 years or more
• Having at least one recent ante-mortem skin wound (occurring less than 4 hours prior to death)
• Hours of death and the establishment of the ante-mortem wound known (date, hours and minutes)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Immunocompromised patients (HIV infection, immunosuppressive therapy ...)
• Putrefaction signs (abdominal patch of green ...)