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Updated: May 11, 2026

Measuring In Vitro ATPase Activity for Enzymatic Characterization
Published on: August 23, 2016
Estimation of PMI depends on the changes in ATP and its degradation products
Shiwei Mao1, Gaowen Fu, Ronald R Seese
1Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, Shanghai 200063, PR China.
Abstract:
Estimating the time since death, or postmortem interval (PMI), has been one of the biggest difficulties in modern forensic investigation. This study tests if the concentrations of breakdown products of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) correlate with PMI in multiple organs from rat. Brains, spleens, and kidneys of rats were harvested at different time points in carcasses maintained at 4°C or 20°C. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used to quantify concentrations of metabolites related to ATP degradation. A K value (Kv=100×(Hx+HxR)/(ATP+ADP+AMP+IMP+HxR+Hx)) was calculated and correlated with PMI for each organ and temperature. The results indicate that the K value is a robust index for the estimation of PMI based on highly significant linear correlations between PMI and concentrations of ATP breakdown products. Compared with other current research methods, the changing tendency of ATP and its degradation products may be potentially a better way for the estimation of PMI in medico-legal practice.
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