Comprehensive Approach for Monitoring Human Tissue Degradation

Dubois, Lena; Stefanuto, Pierre-Hugues; Perrault, Katelynn; DELPORTE, Géraldine; Delvenne, Philippe; Focant, Jean-François

doi:10.1007/s10337-019-03710-3

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Comprehensive Approach for Monitoring Human Tissue Degradation

Dubois, Lena; Stefanuto, Pierre-Hugues; Perrault, Katelynn et al.

2019 • In Chromatographia, 82 (5), p. 857-871

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https://hdl.handle.net/2268/235836

DOI
10.1007/s10337-019-03710-3

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Keywords :

Death odor; Forensic chemistry; Forensic science; GC × GC–TOFMS; Human decomposition; Organs; Volatile organic compounds

Abstract :

[en] In recent years, comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC–TOFMS) has been reported as a suitable tool for the determination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted during the process of cadaveric decomposition. The main aim of the present study was to investigate temporal changes in VOC patterns during the decomposition process of various human tissues. The focus of previous research was mainly on the analysis of VOCs produced by whole cadavers. However, this study aimed to identify whether the VOCs produced during decomposition differ between specific organs, and further, to determine the extent of the variation between cadavers. The sampling process developed for this project allowed inter- and intra-cadaveric comparison. The headspace of heart, lung, liver, kidney and blood was monitored during the decomposition process. Tissue samples from five different cadavers were sampled regularly by dynamic pumping onto sorbent tubes that were further thermally desorbed onto a GC × GC–TOFMS system. A large amount of data (n = 774) was obtained, leading to challenges in the integration, interpretation and representation of the results. Eventually, multivariate statistical methods, such as principal components analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were applied to the dataset to evaluate trends and differences in subgroups. It was demonstrated that there were subtle differences between the sets of compounds produced from each organ due to the different functions they carry out within the body. However, VOC profiles were more similar among organs from the same cadaver than when comparing samples from different cadavers. Various reasons may cause the differences between the analyzed cadavers, ranging from the individual diet and lifestyle to the time since death. © 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Disciplines :

Chemistry

Author, co-author :

Dubois, Lena ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de chimie (sciences) > Chimie analytique, organique et biologique

Stefanuto, Pierre-Hugues ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de chimie (sciences) > Chimie analytique, organique et biologique

Perrault, Katelynn ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de chimie (sciences) > Chimie analytique, organique et biologique

DELPORTE, Géraldine ; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège - CHU > Unilab > Service d'anatomie et cytologie pathologiques

Delvenne, Philippe ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences biomédicales et précliniques > Anatomie et cytologie pathologiques

Focant, Jean-François ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de chimie (sciences) > Chimie analytique, organique et biologique

Language :

English

Title :

Comprehensive Approach for Monitoring Human Tissue Degradation

Publication date :

May 2019

Journal title :

Chromatographia

ISSN :

0009-5893

eISSN :

1612-1112

Publisher :

Friedr. Vieweg und Sohn Verlags GmbH

Volume :

Issue :

Pages :

857-871

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Available on ORBi :

since 24 May 2019

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