Objective: The content changes of energy substances in the cardiac muscle of rat killed by different manners were investigated to elucidate evidence that can be used to determine the modes of death and postmortem interval.
Methods: One hundred and eighty rats were randomly allocated into 3 groups and killed by bleeding, suffocating, and neck breaking, respectively. The contents of ATP, ADP, and AMP in the cardiac muscle of rats killed by the different manners at different death intervals (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 18, and 24 h) were measured by HPLC.
Results: There were significant differences observed in the contents of ATP and AMP in the rats' cardiac muscle in different groups at most of the intervals (P < 0.05) and at all of the intervals within the same group (P < 0.01), but no differences were found in the ADP contents in any of the group at most of the intervals.
Conclusion: The content changes of energy substances (ATP and AMP) in the cardiac muscle of dead rats may provide a basis for determination of the death manners and postmortem intervals.