Postmortem Interval Estimation Using Myoglobin Concentration in Different Glandular Tissues

Postmortem interval (PMI) estimation is very important in a suspicious death investigation. Myoglobin is a hemoprotein presents in striated muscles of living body. After death, myoglobin is exuded from muscles to blood, tissues and organs. So, the aim of this study was to estimate PMI from myoglobin concentrations in glandular tissues. This study was done on rats to detect the Postmortem concentration of myoglobin in pituitary, parotid and adrenal glands at different time intervals. There was a significant correlation between myoglobin concentration in glandular tissues and PMI. By multiple stepwise linear regression analysis, the most predictable model was the combination between pituitary, adrenal and parotid myoglobin concentrations (R2 = 0.992). The second predictable model was the combination between adrenal and pituitary myoglobin concentrations (R2 =0.99). The last predictable model was adrenal myoglobin concentration (R2 = 0.980). It was confirmed that myoglobin concentration in glandular tissues is a helpful parameter in estimation of PMI.