title: Intranuclear ubiquitin immunoreactivity in the pigmented neurons of the substantia nigra in fire fatalities.
abstract: To evaluate the significance of immunohistochemical staining of ubiquitin (heat shock protein) in the midbrain for medico-legal investigation of death in fires, we examined forensic autopsy cases of fire fatalities (n = 35) in comparison with controls (n = 27; brain stem injury, acute myocardial infarction and carbon monoxide poisoning other than fire fatality). There were two intranuclear staining patterns in the nuclei of pigmented substantia nigra neurons: a type of inclusion (possible Marinesco bodies) and a diffuse staining. Percentage of nuclear ubiquitin positivity (Ub-positive %) in fire fatalities (2.7-44.7%; mean, 18.5%) was significantly higher than in brain stem injury (n = 9; 0-10.4%; mean, 4.5%) and myocardial infarction (n = 14; 1.5-14.6%; mean, 6.9%), independently of blood carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) levels. Age-dependent increase in Ub-positive % was observed in lower COHb (< 60%) cases. The intranuclear diffuse ubiquitin staining was not observed in cases of high blood cyanide level (> 1.0 microg/ml). These observations showed that intranuclear ubiquitin immunoreactivity of the pigmented substantia nigra neurons in the midbrain was induced by severe stress in fires.
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oritani
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: M Q
authors.initials: MQ
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maeda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001344:Autopsy; D002056:Burns / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D010858:Pigmentation; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D025801:Ubiquitin / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D025801:Ubiquitin