NCJ Number
181275
Journal
Legal Medicine Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: April 1999 Pages: 76-79
Date Published
1999
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Immunohistochemical staining of IgG in sections of injured brain areas was performed in forensic autopsies, including cases of immediate death.
Abstract
The brains were fixed in 10 percent formalin for about a week and were then embedded in paraffin. Brain sections were cut to a thickness of 5 micrometers by microtome and were later deparaffinized with xylene and rehydrated. They were then treated with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide for 5 minutes to block endogenous peroxidase activity and were washed with phosphate-buffered saline. For IgG immunohistochemistry, brain sections were treated with 0.4 mg/ml proteinase K solution at room temperature for 5 minutes to restore the antigenicity of IgG. IgG positive glial cells per field were counted under magnification, and the Wilcoxon matched pairs test was used to compare the number of IgG positive glial cells per field between hemorrhagic and intact areas. Results showed IgG immunoreactivity was present mainly in glial cells surrounding hemorrhagic areas. No positive glial IgG immunostaining was observed in control cases without brain injuries, indicating that prominent glial IgG immunostaining may help locate suspected brain injuries. 12 references and 1 figure