Forensic Discrimination of Salt Water Drowning Using Vitreous Lipid and Protein Analysis

Objectives

The use of autopsy in the discrimination of post-mortem saltwater and true saltwater drowning is handicapped due to the non-overt histological presentation. This has created a need forreproducible, accurate, and inexpensive discriminatory markers. Methods:This is an experimental animal study that involved using albino rabbits, categorized into four groups of ten (10) rabbits each: the control (strangled) death (CD), the chloroform death (CFD), the postmortem drowned (disguised) death (PDD), and the saltwater drowned death (SDD). Vitreous humour was extracted from the eyes of the rabbits using the Coe method and transported to the laboratory for the estimation of vitreous proteins and lipids. The vitreous biochemical parameters were analyzed using WHO-approved methods, and the data were analyzed in SPSS (Version 18-20) using One-Way ANOVA (Post Hoc LSD) with a level of significance set at 0.05.