The influence of postmortem damage of tissues on the immunohistochemical diagnosis of
wound age has not as yet been clarified. We utilized
antibodies against the
proteinase inhibitors alpha-1-antichymotrypsin and alpha-2-macroglobulin,
fibronectin and
lysozyme to study samples of skin which had been intact intravitally, but were damaged postmortem either by
autolysis or compression with a
surgical clamp at the time of dissection. Even in the absence of
autolysis,
antibodies against the
proteinase inhibitors and
fibronectin exhibited staining of tissue margins.
Autolysis caused an increase in false positive results. In contrast,
antibodies against
lysozyme did not give false positive staining. There were no
antigens sensitive to postmortem clamping and false positive results were not observed.
Antibodies against
proteinase inhibitors are not useful for the diagnosis of
wound age because of a high number of false positive reactions in marginal areas.
Fibronectin also showed false positive band-shaped staining patterns at the tissue margin. In addition, autolytic processes increase the number of false positives. The antibody against
lysozyme is much less sensitive to
autolysis and no false positive reactions were observed in our series of tests.