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J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2019 May;78(5):436-452

Department of Translational Science and Molecular Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Vascular dementia (VaD) is cognitive decline linked to reduced cerebral blood perfusion, yet there are few therapeutic options to protect cognitive function following cerebrovascular accidents. The purpose of this study was to profile gene expression changes unique to VaD to identify and characterize disease relevant changes that could offer clues for future therapeutic direction. Microarray-based profiling and validation studies of postmortem frontal cortex samples from VaD, Alzheimer disease, and age-matched control subjects revealed that the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) was strongly and differentially upregulated in VaD. Read More

Front Neurosci 2019 28;13:235. Epub 2019 Mar 28.

Parkinson's and Movement Disorders Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States.

Nervous tissues from both humans with neurodegenerative diseases (NDD) and animals with genetic models of human NDD, such as rare monogenic causes of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and Parkinson's disease (PD), show activated microglia, suggesting a potential causal role for inflammation in pathogenesis of NDD. We performed paired-end (PE) RNA sequencing (RNA seq) of total RNA's extracted from frozen sections of cervical spinal cords from ALS and CTL subjects, frontal cortical gray matter ribbons of AD and CTL subjects, and ventral midbrains of PD and CTL subjects. Trimmed PE reads were aligned against the hg38 human transcriptome using Tophat2/Bowtie2 (ALS) or HISAT2 (AD and PD) and quantitated with Cufflinks. Read More

Glia 2019 Apr 14. Epub 2019 Apr 14.

Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Belval, Luxembourg.

The phenotypic changes of microglia in brain diseases are particularly diverse and their role in disease progression, beneficial, or detrimental, is still elusive. High-throughput molecular approaches such as single-cell RNA-sequencing can now resolve the high heterogeneity in microglia population for a specific physiological condition, however, the relation between the different microglial signatures and their surrounding brain microenvironment is barely understood. Thus, better tools to characterize the phenotypic variations of microglia in situ are needed, particularly for human brain postmortem samples analysis. Read More

Poult Sci 2019 Apr 13. Epub 2019 Apr 13.

Nanjing Innovation Center of Meat Products Processing, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, Quality and Safety Control, and College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of preslaughter shackling on stress, postmortem glycolysis, meat quality, water distribution, and protein structures of pectoralis majors. Before slaughter, Arbor Acres broilers (n = 105, 42 days old, 2.0 to 2. Read More

Int J Legal Med 2019 Apr 11. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Düsseldorf, 40225, Dusseldorf, Germany.

Several molecular modifications accumulate in the human organism with increasing age. Some of these "molecular clocks" in DNA and in proteins open up promising approaches for the development of methods for forensic age estimation. A natural limitation of these methods arises from the fact that the chronological age is determined only indirectly by analyzing defined molecular changes that occur during aging. Read More

Sci Rep 2019 Apr 11;9(1):5896. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.

Existence of aging associated transcriptional differences in the schizophrenia brain was investigated in RNA sequencing data from 610 postmortem Dorso-Lateral Pre-Frontal Cortex (DLPFC) samples in the CommondMind Consortium (CMC) and the psychENCODE cohorts. This analysis discovered that the trajectory of gene expression changes that occur during brain aging differed between schizophrenia cases and unaffected controls. Mainly, the identified gene expression differences between the diagnosis groups shrank in magnitude following 60 years of age. Read More

J Alzheimers Dis 2019 Apr 1. Epub 2019 Apr 1.

Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), disturbances in the circadian rhythm and sleep-wake cycle are frequently observed. Both are controlled by the master clock: the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which was reported in postmortem studies of AD subjects to be compromised. However, the influence of age and gender on the biophysical integrity and subtle microstructural changes of SCN and mechanistic connections between SCN dysfunction and AD progression in vivo remain to be explored. Read More

Transl Vis Sci Technol 2019 Mar 27;8(2). Epub 2019 Mar 27.

The University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Save Sight Institute and Discipline of Ophthalmology, Sydney, Australia.

Purpose: Particle-mediated gene transfer has been used in animal models to study the morphology and connectivity of retinal ganglion cells. The aim of the present study was to apply this method to transfect ganglion cells in postmortem human retina.

Methods: Postmortem human eyes from male and female donors aged 40 to 76 years old were obtained within 15 hours after death. Read More

Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2019 Mar;60(4):1204-1212

Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.

Purpose: Current understanding of local disease pathophysiology in AMD is limited. Analysis of the human disease-affected tissue is most informative, as gene expression, expressed quantitative trait loci, microenvironmental, and epigenetic changes can be tissue, cell type, and location specific. Development of a novel translational treatment and prevention strategies particularly for earlier forms of AMD are needed, although access to human ocular tissue analysis is challenging. Read More

Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2019 Mar 29:1-13. Epub 2019 Mar 29.

a State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology , School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University , Wuxi , Jiangsu , China.

Fishery products are delicious, nutritional and healthy foods, and their popularity in today's market is growing. With the changes in consumer consumption expectations as well as the development of reliable cold-chains, fresh preprocessed fishery products such as fillets are more popular with consumers and producers because of their convenience for processing and cooking. However, fishery products after being removed from water have a short shelf life due to their intrinsic characteristics. Read More

Front Aging Neurosci 2019 11;11:49. Epub 2019 Mar 11.

Beaumont Research Institute, Department of Neurology, Beaumont Health, Royal Oak, MI, United States.

Misfolded proteins are pathological findings in some chronic neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases. Aging is a major risk factor for these disorders, suggesting that the mechanisms responsible for clearing misfolded proteins from the brain, the ubiquitin-proteasome system and the autophagy-lysosomal pathway, may decline with age. Although autophagic mechanisms have been found to decrease with age in many experimental models, whether they do so in the brain is unclear. Read More

Int J Legal Med 2019 Mar 25. Epub 2019 Mar 25.

Department of Forensic Pathology, College of Forensic Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, People's Republic of China.

Estimating postmortem interval (PMI) is one of the most challenging tasks in forensic practice due to the effects of many factors. Here, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy combined with chemometrics was utilized to evaluate the effects of causes of death when estimating PMI and to establish a partial least square (PLS) regression model, which can precisely predict PMI under different causes of death. First, the sensitivities to causes of death (brainstem injury, mechanical asphyxia, and hemorrhage shock) of seven kinds of organs were evaluated based on their degrees of cohesion and separation. Read More

Sci Rep 2019 Mar 25;9(1):5087. Epub 2019 Mar 25.

Department of Neurosciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, 43614, USA.

Converging evidence suggests bioenergetic defects contribute to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and may underlie cognitive dysfunction. The transport and metabolism of lactate energetically couples astrocytes and neurons and supports brain bioenergetics. We examined the concentration of lactate in postmortem brain (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) in subjects with schizophrenia, in two animal models of schizophrenia, the GluN1 knockdown mouse model and mutant disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) mouse model, as well as inducible pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from a schizophrenia subject with the DISC1 mutation. Read More

J Alzheimers Dis 2019 Mar 18. Epub 2019 Mar 18.

Cambridge Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Group, Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge, UK.

Background: Genetic factors that influence Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk include mutations in TREM2 and allelic variants of Apolipoprotein E, influencing AD pathology in the general population and in Down syndrome (DS). Evidence shows that dysfunction of the choroid plexus may compromise the blood-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) barrier, altering secretary, transport and immune function that can affect AD pathology.

Objective: To investigate the genotype and phenotype of DS individuals in relation to choroid plexus damage and blood-CSF barrier leakage to identify markers that could facilitate early diagnosis of AD in DS. Read More

Clin Nephrol 2019 Mar 22. Epub 2019 Mar 22.

"Lupus nephritis", a serious complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an entity of recent vintage. The term "lupus", derived from Latin for wolf, was introduced in the Middle Ages to denote nondescript erosive skin lesions which resembled wolf bites that were known theretofore by their Greek name of "", used in the Hippocratic Corpus for the spread of the lesions like a crawling snake. The specific dermatologic features of lupus were characterized as an "erythematous" butterfly rash in 1828 and dubbed "lupus erythematosus" in 1850. Read More

Fa Yi Xue Za Zhi 2018 Jun 25;34(6):631-634. Epub 2018 Dec 25.

Forensic Judicial Appraisal Center of Beijing Public Security Bureau, Beijing 100192, China.

Objectives: To study the main features of mechanical asphyxia--the pathological characteristics of petechial hemorrhage after high temperature effect （roasted, boiled） and its changing rules.

Methods: Rabbit model of mechanical asphyxia death with choking neck and death from anteposition hanging was established. The experimental rabbits were randomly divided into roasted group and boiled group （=4, in each group）. Read More

Animal 2019 Mar 21:1-8. Epub 2019 Mar 21.

1Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,Norwegian University of Life Sciences,Ullevålsveien 72,0454 Oslo,Norway.

The aim of this study was to explore lameness and the associations between lameness and health/production measures of animal welfare in commercial broiler production, using the Welfare Quality® protocol for broilers. A total of 50 flocks were included in the sample and farm visits were conducted for lameness scoring at a mean age of 28.9 days. Read More

Front Neurosci 2019 5;13:193. Epub 2019 Mar 5.

Somatosensory and Autonomic Therapy Research, Institute for Neuroradiology, Hannover Medical School, Hanover, Germany.

Brainstem nuclei govern the arterial baroreflex, which is crucial for heart rate and blood pressure control. Yet, brainstem function is difficult to explore in living humans and is therefore mostly studied using animal models or postmortem human anatomy studies. We developed a methodology to identify brainstem nuclei involved in baroreflex cardiovascular control in humans by combining pharmacological baroreflex testing with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Read More

J Forensic Leg Med 2019 Mar 5;64:1-6. Epub 2019 Mar 5.

Department of Forensic Sciences, Group of Paediatric Forensic Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address:

Introduction: Postmortem evaluations of cerebral edema typically involve examinations of macroscopic features such as the presence of pressure signs and compression of the ventricles. Global massive edema is easily detectable in an autopsy, but less-extensive edema may be difficult to diagnose.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare measurements of brain water contents, postmortem CT radiodensity and brain weight to skull size in edematous and nonedematous brains in order to develop an objective method for postmortem evaluations of brain edema. Read More

Am J Forensic Med Pathol 2019 Mar 9. Epub 2019 Mar 9.

Department of Forensic Medicine, ESIC Medical College, Faridabad, Haryana, India.

Application of color on the external body surface before, during, and after death, such as during a festivity, cultural occasion, or after death ritual, can present as an artifact at forensic autopsy. The present study is a retrospective review of body color artifacts collected from postmortem reports, inquest papers and photographs of each individual case autopsied at our institutes during a 12 year period from 2004 to 2015. The reason for body colorations were various festivities, after death rituals and beautification products, among others. Read More

J Proteomics 2019 May 9;199:51-66. Epub 2019 Mar 9.

Department of Animal Science, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the differential proteome and phosphoproteome between bulls and steers during conversion of muscle to meat, as well as after 14 days of aging. Twelve male Nellore (Bos taurus indicus) calves were used, and six calves were randomly selected for surgical castration. Calves were fed the same diet and were harvested after 230 days on feed. Read More

FASEB J 2019 Mar 12:fj201802628R. Epub 2019 Mar 12.

Division of Brain Sciences, Department of Medicine, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is the most commonly used surgical treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD). The disease-modifying aspects of DBS at a cellular level are not fully understood, and the key question of the effect of DBS on the degeneration of the dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) remains to be answered. A major technical hurdle in determining any neuroprotective effect by DBS is its use in mid- to late-stage patients with PD when a majority of the DA neurons have been lost. Read More

J Forensic Leg Med 2019 Apr 5;63:40-47. Epub 2019 Mar 5.

Department of Forensic Medicine, Soochow University, Ganjiang East Road, Suzhou, China. Electronic address:

We present four cases that use entomological data to estimate postmortem interval (PMI). In the first case, the body was found in an outdoor environment at 26 °C and was at the fresh stage. However, the PMI estimated using maggots collected from the corpse was more than 68 h. Read More

Microbiologyopen 2019 Mar 12:e828. Epub 2019 Mar 12.

Department of Biological and Geographical Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United Kingdom.

Despite the wide usage of animals as models in forensic studies, the investigations of fundamental legal questions involving domesticated and nondomesticated animals were always given marginal attention compared to "human forensic," and only recently the interest in the discipline is increasing. Our research focuses on the effect of the fur coat on the activity and development of microbial decomposers. In order to test this variable never assessed before, rabbit carcasses were used and results show that: (i) distinct and significant temporal changes in terms of metabolic activity and taxa distribution can be tracked over the decomposition process; (ii) the richness and the diversity of the bacterial communities does not significantly vary over time, but it does not mean that the species Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) do not change; (iii) the presence/absence of the fur on the carcasses does not significantly affect either the bacterial communities' functional activity or the diversity intra- and intercommunity, neither at phylum nor at family resolution; (iv) the functional activity and the ecological diversity of the bacterial communities are significantly affected by the body region, while the relative abundance is not. Read More

Acta Neuropathol Commun 2019 Mar 11;7(1):37. Epub 2019 Mar 11.

Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, WACC, Suite 715, 15th Parkman St., Boston, MA, 02114, USA.

[F-18]-MK-6240, a novel tau positron emission tomography (PET) tracer recently discovered for the in vivo detection of neurofibrillary tangles, has the potential to improve diagnostic accuracy in the detection of Alzheimer disease. We have examined regional and substrate-specific binding patterns as well as possible off-target binding of this tracer on human brain tissue to advance towards its validation. We applied [F-18]-MK-6240 phosphor screen and high resolution autoradiography to postmortem samples from patients with a definite pathological diagnosis of Alzheimer disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration-tau (Pick's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration), chronic traumatic encephalopathy, frontotemporal lobar degeneration-Tar DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43), dementia with Lewy bodies, cerebral amyloid angiopathy and elderly controls free of pathologic changes of neurodegenerative disease. Read More

Forensic Sci Int 2019 Apr 23;297:315-325. Epub 2019 Feb 23.

Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bonn, Stiftsplatz 12, 53111, Bonn, Germany.

Providing evidence of asphyxia death is a challenging issue in forensic pathology. Besides helpful macroscopical signs (e.g. Read More

Ann Clin Transl Neurol 2019 Feb 14;6(2):263-273. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna Bologna 40139 Italy.

Objective: Despite the critical importance of pathologically confirmed samples for biomarker validation, only a few studies have correlated CSF A42 values in vivo with postmortem Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, while none evaluated the CSF A42/A40 ratio. We compared CSF A42 and A42/A40 ratio as biomarkers predicting AD neuropathological changes in patients with a short interval between lumbar puncture and death.

Methods: We measured CSF A40 and A42 and assessed AD pathology in 211 subjects with rapidly progressive dementia (RPD) and a definite postmortem diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease ( = 159), AD ( = 12), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB,  = 4), AD/DLB mixed pathologies ( = 5), and various other pathologies ( = 31). Read More

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2019 19;10:86. Epub 2019 Feb 19.

Medical Genetics Laboratory, Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.

Mitochondrial impairment and increased oxidative stress are common features in neurodegenerative disorders, leading researchers to speculate that epigenetic changes in the mitochondrial DNA (mitoepigenetics) could contribute to neurodegeneration. The few studies performed so far to address this issue revealed impaired methylation levels of the mitochondrial regulatory region (D-loop region) in both animal models, postmortem brain regions, or circulating blood cells of patients with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Those studies also revealed that mtDNA D-loop methylation levels are subjected to a dynamic regulation within the progression of the neurodegenerative process, could be affected by certain neurodegenerative disease-causative mutations, and are inversely correlated with the mtDNA copy number. Read More

Behav Brain Funct 2019 Mar 5;15(1). Epub 2019 Mar 5.

Henan Mental Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, No. 388, Jianshe Middle Road, Xinxiang, 453002, Henan, People's Republic of China.

Background: Maternal immune activation (MIA) during gestation can increase the later risk of schizophrenia in adult offspring. Neuroinflammation is believed to underlie this process. Postmortem brain studies have found changes in the neuroimmune systems of patients with schizophrenia. Read More

Forensic Sci Int 2019 Apr 29;297:221-227. Epub 2019 Jan 29.

Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Unit of Legal Medicine, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 49, 40126 Bologna, Italy. Electronic address:

Introduction: Among the several techniques proposed for the estimation of the Post Mortem Interval (PMI), the analysis of odorous amines has been applied in the past, with conflicting results. The aims of this study are: (i) to develop and validate a GC-MS method for the determination of putrescine (PUT) and cadaverine (CAD) in the human brain (validation study) and (ii) to study the relation of PUT and CAD concentration in the human brain and the PMI (decomposition study).

Materials And Methods: Validation study. Read More

Georgian Med News 2019 Jan(286):126-132

Higher State Educational Establishment of Ukraine "Bukovinian State Medical University", Chernivtsi, Ukraine.

The estimation of death coming prescription (DCP) is one of the most important issues that confronts a medical examiner during the corpse examination right at the scene of death. The most promising biological object for the DCP estimation is cerebrospinal fluid. Aim - to compare the effectiveness of methods being used: stokes-polarimetry, stokes-colorimetry, autofluorescence polarimetry in order to improve the accuracy of DCP for the long - and short-term time intervals. Read More

Placenta 2019 Feb 4;77:30-38. Epub 2019 Feb 4.

Division of Pathology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA. Electronic address:

Introduction: Postmortem regressive placental changes of stillbirth may obscure the pre-existing placental histomorphology. The objective is to find out whether the use of CD34 immunostain can increase the sensitivity of placental examination in the diagnosis of fetal vascular malperfusion (FVM).

Methods: Twenty six independent clinical and 46 placental variables of 46 placentas from stillbirths were statistically compared to those of 92 placentas from livebirths. Read More

Animals (Basel) 2019 Feb 26;9(3). Epub 2019 Feb 26.

Department of Animal Production, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) causes increased mortality and severe immunosuppression in commercial chickens. Currently, vaccination mainly used to control IBD. In this study, Group A (n = 30) received the HVT-IBD vector vaccine s/c and Group B (n = 30) received the immune complex vaccine s/c at 1 day of age. Read More

Neurocase 2019 Feb 27:1-7. Epub 2019 Feb 27.

a Department of Legal Medicine , Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine , Maebashi , Japan.

Early life stress (ELS) has been suggested to cause epigenetic changes to genes in the brain, such as the Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 3, Group C, Member 1 gene (NR3C1). Conversely, evaluation of the epigenetic status in the postmortem brain might provide clues to the antemortem ELS experience. We examined DNA methylation of the 1F promoter region of NR3C1 in the postmortem brains of eight children including four ELS cases. Read More

ACS Chem Neurosci 2019 Feb 26. Epub 2019 Feb 26.

The serotonergic and glutamatergic neurotransmitter systems have both been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, and there are multiple lines of evidence to demonstrate that they can interact in a functionally relevant manner. Particularly, it has been demonstrated that serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) 2A (5-HT2A) receptors and metabotropic glutamate type 2 (mGlu2) receptors can assemble into a functional heteromeric complex and modulate each other's function. This heteromeric complex has been implicated in the mechanism of action of hallucinogens as well as antipsychotic agents, and its role has been demonstrated in both in vitro and in vivo systems. Read More

J Thorac Imaging 2019 Feb 15. Epub 2019 Feb 15.

Department of Forensic Medicine, National Forensic Service, Wonju, Republic of Korea.

With the introduction of modern imaging technology into the forensic field, postmortem imaging, particularly postmortem computed tomography (PMCT), has gained increasing importance in forensic investigations of deaths. In recent years, PMCT, which aims to provide observer-independent, reproducible forensic assessment in a minimally invasive manner, has been incorporated into routine forensic practice in many medicolegal institutions worldwide as a complement to autopsy. To address questions with regard to vascular pathologies, postmortem computed tomography angiography (PMCTA) has been developed and has become a useful tool for exploring the vascular system. Read More

J Vet Cardiol 2019 Feb 11;21:28-33. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Department of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2015 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA.

A two-month-old Red Angus heifer calf presented to the University of Wisconsin Veterinary Care for evaluation of suspected severe bronchopneumonia. Pertinent physical exam findings included tachycardia, tachypnea, dyspnea with a significant abdominal component, and cyanotic mucous membranes. On thoracic auscultation, wheezes were present bilaterally, as well as a grade 2/6 right apical systolic murmur. Read More

Neuroscience 2019 Feb 18. Epub 2019 Feb 18.

Southwest Brain Bank, Department of Psychiatry, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech Univeristy Health Science Center, El Paso, Texas, USA. Electronic address:

Synaptosomal Associated Protein-25 kilodaltons (SNAP-25) is an integral member of the SNARE complex. This complex is essential for calcium-triggered synaptic vesicular fusion and release of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft. In addition to neurotransmission, SNAP-25 is associated with insulin release, the regulation of intracellular calcium, and neuroplasticity. Read More

Clin Anat 2019 May 7;32(4):573-584. Epub 2019 Mar 7.

Department of Biological and Material Sciences in Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.

Facial folds and creases are established descriptive anatomical terms for structures of which the morphological characteristics and origins are not clearly defined. The aim of this study was to perform a morphological investigation of the nasolabial fold (NLF), mandibular fold (MF), deep transverse forehead (DTFC), infraorbital fold (IOF) and upper eyelid fold (UEF), correlating their phenotypes to differences in the superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS), noting morphological differences and similarities. Full-graft tissue blocks of skin, subcutaneous tissue, and mimic muscles collected postmortem were studied histologically. Read More

Neurosci Bull 2019 Apr 19;35(2):193-204. Epub 2019 Feb 19.

Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Neuroscience Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100005, China.

In this study, the distribution of five Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Han population was examined in combination with the evaluation of clinical cognition and brain pathological analysis. The associations among SNPs, clinical daily cognitive states, and postmortem neuropathological changes were analyzed in 110 human brains from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/Peking Union Medical College (CAMS/PUMC) Human Brain Bank. APOE ε4 (OR = 4. Read More

Sci Rep 2019 Feb 19;9(1):2307. Epub 2019 Feb 19.

Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne & Melbourne Health, Carlton South, VIC, Australia.

Dysregulation of the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) has been linked to schizophrenia but it is not clear if this dysregulation is detectable in both brain and blood. We examined free mono-ubiquitin, ubiquitinated proteins, catalytic ubiquitination, and proteasome activities in frozen postmortem OFC tissue from 76 (38 schizophrenia, 38 control) matched individuals, as well as erythrocytes from 181 living participants, who comprised 30 individuals with recent onset schizophrenia (mean illness duration = 1 year), 63 individuals with 'treatment-resistant' schizophrenia (mean illness duration = 17 years), and 88 age-matched participants without major psychiatric illness. Ubiquitinated protein levels were elevated in postmortem OFC in schizophrenia compared to controls (p = <0. Read More

Aust Vet J 2019 Mar 17;97(3):81-86. Epub 2019 Feb 17.

Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, 250 Princes Highway, Werribee, Victoria 3030, Australia.

Case Series: Avian mycobacteriosis is a significant disease of a wide range of bird species worldwide. The most common causative agent, Mycobacterium avium, is reported to also infect a range of mammals, including humans. Of 11 brolgas (Antigone rubicunda) submitted to the University of Melbourne for postmortem examination over a 10-year period, 7 were diagnosed with mycobacteriosis. Read More

Forensic Sci Int 2019 Apr 2;297:e11-e13. Epub 2019 Feb 2.

CURML, University Center of Legal Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital, Chemin de la Vulliette 4, 1000, Lausanne 25, Switzerland.

Postmortem biochemical investigations in vitreous humor samples collected before and after performing multiphase postmortem computed tomography angiography were performed in the past and demonstrated that specific contrast material injection allowed perfusion and radiological identification of the main vessels of the eye to be obtained without any changes in vitreous humor composition. In the study presented herein, we aimed to test whether the injection of the same contrast material using the same postmortem angiography protocol might influence pericardial fluid composition. Postmortem biochemical investigations were performed on pericardial fluid samples collected from bodies that underwent postmortem angiography (n = 16) prior to and post angiography. Read More

Lab Invest 2019 Feb 15. Epub 2019 Feb 15.

Department of Pathology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA.

Accumulation of abnormal tau in neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) occurs in Alzheimer disease (AD) and a spectrum of tauopathies. These tauopathies have diverse and overlapping morphological phenotypes that obscure classification and quantitative assessments. Recently, powerful machine learning-based approaches have emerged, allowing the recognition and quantification of pathological changes from digital images. Read More

Skin Res Technol 2019 Feb 15. Epub 2019 Feb 15.

Department of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.

Background: Previous studies have reported relationships between various visual parameters of the skin and changes due to aging. Due to an increase in the discovery of unidentified bodies, the field of forensic medicine anticipates the development of a rapid method for estimating age. The present study measured various visual parameters of the skin in human remains and investigated the correlation between these parameters and age. Read More

Addict Biol 2019 Feb 12. Epub 2019 Feb 12.

Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Centre for Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Excessive use of cocaine is known to induce changes in brain white and gray matter. It is unknown whether the extent of these changes is related to individual differences in vulnerability to cocaine addiction. One factor increasing vulnerability involves reduced expression of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT). Read More