title: Stimulation of postmortem platelets with adenosine-5-diphosphate and epinephrine.
abstract: In an earlier study, we assessed the aggregation of postmortem platelets following stimulation with collagen and arachidonic acid [1]. We now extend those investigations to include the effects of stimulation with various concentrations of adenosine-5-diphosphate (ADP) and epinephrine on the aggregation of platelets in 463 blood samples during the first 10 h postmortem (hpm). Stimulation with low concentrations of ADP and of the weak in vivo agent epinephrine evoked only potentially reversible 1st order aggregation and not irreversible 2nd order aggregation, indicating that the release reaction of platelets is already impaired in the early postmortem hours by milieu changes within the cadaver. These findings, like those of our previous study, demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing the aggregation behaviour of postmortem platelets as a tool for estimating time of death as well as for differentiating between intravital and postmortem hematomas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Thomsen
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schmidtke
mesh_terms: D000244:Adenosine Diphosphate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000473:pathology*; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000592:standards*; D006406:Hematoma / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010974:Platelet Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects*; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000244:Adenosine Diphosphate; D004837:Epinephrine