Objective: To explore the changes and rules of biochemical markers in serum of guinea pigs after death caused by hypothermia and to provide references for fatal hypothermia diagnosis by serum biochemical markers.
Methods: Twenty guinea pigs were randomly divided into experimental group and control group. The guinea pigs in the experimental group were kept at -30 °C until death, while the ones in control group were decapitated after same survival intervals at 25 °C. The serum was extracted from the whole blood of right ventricular immediately. Subsequently, a series of serum biochemical markers were analyzed by auto bio-chemical analyzer.
Results: The levels of glucose, uric acid, creatinine and urea nitrogen in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in control group, respectively (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the levels of total protein and albumin were significantly lower in the experimental group (P<0.05). There were no significantly differences of the levels of other markers such as serum enzymes and ions observed between the two groups.
Conclusion: There are characteristic changes of some specific serum biochemical markers in fatal hypothermia, which may be potentially useful for auxiliary diagnosis of fatal hypothermia.