title: Immunohistological investigations of autopsied carotid bodies and their application to diagnosing strangulation.
abstract: Using immunohistochemical staining, the histological changes and the presence of neuropeptides (enkephalin and VIP) in the carotid body have been investigated in medico-legal autopsy cases, especially asphyxia cases. Only in cases of manual and/or ligature strangulation cases that sustained a force near the carotid body, were the chief cells mainly lightly stained, indicating that they had been "active" cells. Furthermore, these cells and their nuclei were enlarged in comparison to the chief carotid body cells in other autopsy groups. It was thus felt that these changes had resulted from the force that had directly affected the carotid body. Based on these findings, it was concluded that immunohistochemical investigation of the carotid body offers a useful possibility for diagnosing manual asphyxia, especially in autopsy cases involving strangulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ogata
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kitamura
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Orihara
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hirose
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nakasono
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001237:Asphyxia / Q000209:etiology*; D001344:Autopsy / Q000379:methods*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002344:Carotid Body / Q000737:chemistry*; D002423:Cause of Death; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004745:Enkephalins / Q000032:analysis*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006708:Homicide; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019838:Neck Injuries; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D013997:Time Factors; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide / Q000032:analysis*; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D004745:Enkephalins; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide