尽管死后间隔估计仍然是法医学的主要目标之一,最常用的方法仍然有几个限制:出于这个原因,即使在今天,精确估计死后间隔仍然是法医病理学领域最重要的挑战之一。为了克服这些限制,近年来,已经对mRNA降解时间的潜在用途进行了大量研究,以达到更精确的验尸间隔(PMI)估计。已对文献进行了基于证据的系统综述,以评估关注mRNA降解与PMI估计之间潜在相关性的最新知识。这项研究是使用电子数据库PubMed和Scopus进行的。所进行的分析使得有可能证实mRNA对于达到更精确的PMI估计的潜在适用性。对结果的分析强调了一些mRNA的有用性,如β-肌动蛋白和甘油醛-3-磷酸脱氢酶(GAPDH)mRNA,尤其是在短时间内,在死亡的几个小时或几天内。还分析了进行这些分析的矩阵,从而减少了对外部环境的暴露,包括心脏,大脑,和牙髓。还报告了主要限制,包括大多数文章中分析的短时间间隔,缺乏数学模型,以及未能报告mRNA降解时间与PMI之间的错误率。鉴于发表的文章数量仍然很少,缺乏全球公认的标准化方法,以及用于评估mRNA降解时间的众多技术,许多和更大的研究仍然是必要的,以达到更坚实和共享的证据。
Although the postmortem interval estimation still represents one of the main goals of forensic medicine, there are still several limitations that weigh on the methods most used for its determination: for this reason, even today, precisely estimating the postmortem interval remains one of the most important challenges in the forensic pathology field. To try to overcome these limitations, in recent years, numerous studies have been conducted on the potential use of the mRNA degradation time for reaching a more precise post mortem interval (PMI) estimation. An evidence-based systematic review of the literature has been conducted to evaluate the state of the art of the knowledge focusing on the potential correlation between mRNA degradation and PMI estimation. The research has been performed using the electronic databases PubMed and Scopus. The analysis conducted made it possible to confirm the potential applicability of mRNA for reaching a more precise PMI estimation. The analysis of the results highlighted the usefulness of some mRNAs, such as β-actin and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNA, especially in short time frames, within a few hours or days of death. The matrices on which these analyses were conducted were also analyzed, resulting in less exposure to the external environment, including the heart, brain, and dental pulp. The major limitations were also reported, including the short time intervals analyzed in most of the articles, the lack of mathematical models, and the failure to report the error rate between the mRNA degradation time and PMI. Given the still small number of published articles, the lack of globally recognized standardized methods, and the numerous techniques used to evaluate the mRNA degradation times, numerous and larger studies are still necessary to reach more solid and shared evidence.