Relationship between Electrical Conductivity and Chemical Content of Rat Skeletal Muscle Impregnating Solution and...

Objective To study the mechanism of change of the electrical conductivity （EC） of rat skeletal muscle impregnating solution that occurs with the change of postmortem interval （PMI）. Methods Healthy Sprague-Dawley rats were killed and kept at about 25 ℃. Skeletal muscles were extracted at different PMI--immediate （0 d）, 1 d, 2 d, 3 d, 4 d, 5 d, 6 d, and 7 d, then mixed with deionized water to make impregnating solution with a mass concentration of 0.1 g/mL. The solution's EC and nine common chemicals in it, such as potassium ion, calcium ion, and chloride ion, were determined. Results EC increased gradually with the extending of PMI （P=0.024） during the 7 days after the rats' death. The content of uric acid （P=0.032）, urea nitrogen （P=0.013） and phosphorus （P=0.022） also increased during the extension. However, the content of magnesium ions decreased with extending of PMI （P=0.047）. The correlation between potassium ion, sodium ion, chlorine ion, calcium ion, creatinine and PMI were weak （P>0.05）. Conclusion The molecular basis of skeletal muscle EC change in rats after their death is the changes of uric acid, urea nitrogen, inorganic phosphorus and other chemical components. Furthermore, combine use of various indicators can improve the accuracy of the EC method to infer PMI.