Detection ofCaspase as a Symptom of Tissue Damage

Overview

Caspases are cysteine proteases which participate in different stages of apoptosis. Apoptosis, celldeath, programmed by its nucleus is associated also with a number of diseases and tissue damage.To this process increasing attention is paid also in the sphere of forensic medicine, in particularto make use of the diagnostic contribution in investigation of cause of death, vital reaction andtime when the injury developed.In damaged tissues by immunohistochemical methods caspase activity was assessed. Caspase 8activity (Flice) was detected in the heart muscle in congenital heart disease in a two-week oldinfant but also in ischaemia in a 58-year old woman with thrombosis of the coronary artery or inacute circulatory failure after an overdosage of pervitin in a 39-year-old drug addict. In the liverthere was a positive finding in hepatocytes in chronic inflammatory changes caused by chronicalcohol abuse.An early caspase 8 reaction after an injury is suggested by positive findings in skeletal muscles ofthe neck and larynx in a 47-year-old man who was strangled. A positive reaction was proved onlyat the site of the line caused by the strangulation tool. However macroscopically nor by commonhistological staining the muscle tissue did not display any signs of injury at the mentioned sites.The results suggest that immunohistochemical evidence of caspase 8 can be used as a suitablecomplementary examination not only for detection of damaged tissue but also for evaluation ofearly stages of the vital reaction.

Key words:
apoptosis - caspases - disease - injury - ante-mortem and post-mortem injury