Postmortem Changes in Element Levels in Rat Skeletal Muscle Tissue

Objective: This experimental study was designed to determine postmortem changes in element levels in rat skeletal muscle tissue and to evaluate its relation with the postmortem interval. Material and Methods: Fifty-two three-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were sacrified by cervical dislocation, and four rats were set aside for dissection; the remaining 48 rats were divided into two groups to determine the effect of temperature on the levels of tissue elements. One group of rats was kept at 4 degrees C and the other group was kept at 18 +/- 2 degrees C. The four rats that had been set aside were dissected immediately after sacrifice; the remaining 48 rats that were kept at two different temperatures were dissected 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours after death, with four rats in each group. The levels of elements in skeletal muscle tissue were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. The values for calcium (Ca), cupper (Cu), firon (Fe), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), phosphorus (P), sulphur (S) and zinc (Zn) were evaluated by the Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U test with Bonferroni's correction. Results: Considering the results for both temperatures, Fe, Na, and K showed significant changes at 4 degrees C and 18 +/- 2 degrees C. Conclusion: Our results suggest that these three elements in skeletal muscle tissue may be useful for determining postmortem interval. For this reason, a more detailed study on the levels of Fe, Na, and K in rat skeletal muscle tissue including a larger number of rats is planned in the near future