title: Determination of skin wound age by using cytokines as potential markers.
abstract: Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), IL-6, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) play important roles in the wound healing process. In the present study, human wound specimens (n = 50) were collected from cases of death due to injuries from firearms, penetrating trauma by sharp objects and blunt trauma with a known time of injury and death identified by forensic autopsy. Full-thickness tissue specimens were obtained from injured skin sites, and equally sized intact tissues obtained from the same person were used as controls. Protein determination was performed using ELISA according to the Bradford method for each specimen, and results were provided for individual proteins. IL-1β levels did not reach statistical significance in any of the wound groups and were not markedly higher than those in the control group. However, IL-6 showed a biphasic pattern and reached statistical significance in the group with wounds less than 30 min old and in the group with wounds more than 18 h old. IL-6 was consistently higher in all wound groups than in the control group. TNF-α showed a statistically significant increase within the first 30 min and remained at a high level in all groups except for those with wounds 2-4 h old. On the other hand, EGF was high in all groups excluding those with wounds 2-4 h old and more than 18 h old, but statistical significance was not reached. Our results suggest that IL-6 and TNF-α in particular may be used as early-phase markers. We believe that IL-1β and EGF should be more extensively evaluated in further studies.
authors: Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey.
authors: İsmail
authors: İ
authors: Birincioğlu
authors: Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Gaziantep, Gaziantep, Turkey. Electronic address: drakbabamurat@gmail.com.
authors: Murat
authors: M
authors: Akbaba
authors: Department of Medical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey.
authors: Ahmet
authors: A
authors: Alver
authors: Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Gaziantep, Turkey.
authors: Seval
authors: S
authors: Kul
authors: Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey.
authors: Erdal
authors: E
authors: Özer
authors: Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Marmara University, Turkey.
authors: Nurşen
authors: N
authors: Turan
authors: Department of Medical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey.
authors: Ayşe
authors: A
authors: Şentürk
authors: Department of Medical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey.
authors: İmran
authors: İ
authors: İnce
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012867:Skin / Q000293:injuries* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015850:Interleukin-6; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor
keywords: Autopsy; EGF; IL-1β; IL-6; TNF-α; Wound age