Complement component C3a or C3a desArg as a new marker for estimation of local vital reactions in incised skin wounds.
The anaphylatoxin C3a or its desArg form (C3a/desArg) generated during complement activation could be detected in the vicinity of incised skin wounds of guinea pigs using immunoblotting methods. The C3a/desArg peptides were detectable immediately after injury in local sites up to 3 mm from the wound edge. In subsequent determinations of up to at least 3-day-old antemortem wounds, the maximum concentration of these peptides was largely localized up to 6 mm from the wound edge at 2 h after injury. In postmortem wounds, however, these peptides were undetectable. When they were released in antemortem wounded tissues they could be detected up to 1 day at 22 degrees C after death. These results suggest that the detection of C3a/desArg in wounds using immunoblotting methods can be useful for distinguishing ante- from postmortem wounds.
Maeno
Y
Y
Department of Legal Medicine, Nagoya City University Medical School, Japan.
Mori
Y
Y
Iwasa
M
M
Inoue
H
H
Takabe
F
F
D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D015926:Complement C3a / Q000032:analysis*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008297:Male; D008970:Molecular Weight; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D012867:Skin / Q000737:chemistry*
D015415:Biomarkers; C044541:complement C3a, des-Arg-(77)-; D015926:Complement C3a