[Evaluation of the vital reaction in injuries]

Evidence of an early vital reaction after a skin injury is sometimes of decisive importance in forensic practice. Attention is devoted increasingly to immunohistochemical evidence of substances, the presence of which in the borders of the wounds signalizes an intravital origin of the injury. In this context evidence was focused on detection of glycophorine at sites of haematomas of the skin and subcutaneous layer and to fibronection in the borders of injuries and in haematomas. To visualize the two substances in paraffin tissue sections, the immunohistochemical method of indirect immunoperoxidase reaction was selected where in the first layer specific sera were used wither against glycophorine A, B or against fibronectin. Glycophorine is a sialoglycoprotein which is part of the red cell membrane. It can be detected at the site of haematomas and after the disintegration of erythrocytes during post-mortem autolysis. Conversely it is lacking where membrane structures were not present. This makes it possible even during advanced stages of post-mortem changes to differentiate actual haematomas from mere post-mortem inhibition of tissue by blood pigment (e.g. in hypostasis) where glycophorine cannot be detected. Fibronectin, another glycoprotein substance can, already in the early stage of injury, form the basis for a netlike structure in the shape of fine "strings". Detection of fibronectin suggests the intravital development of injury and in the authors cases it could be detected already within several minutes after the development of the injury.