Comparative use of aqueous humour (1)H NMR metabolomics and potassium concentration for PMI estimation in an animal model

Estimation of the post-mortem interval (PMI) remains a matter of concern in the forensic scenario. Traditional and novel approaches are not yet able to fully address this issue, which relies on complex biological phenomena triggered by death. For this purpose, eye compartments may be chosen for experimental studies because they are more resistant to post-mortem modifications. Vitreous humour, in particular, has been extensively investigated, with potassium concentration ([K(+)]) being the marker that is better correlated with PMI estimation. Recently, a (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomic approach based on aqueous humour (AH) from an animal model was proposed for PMI estimation, resulting in a robust and validated regression model. Here we studied the variation in [K(+)] in the same experimental setup. [K(+)] was determined through capillary ion analysis (CIA) and a regression analysis was performed. Moreover, it was investigated whether the PMI information related to potassium could improve the metabolome predictive power in estimating the PMI. Interestingly, we found that a part of the metabolomic profile is able to explain most of the information carried by potassium, suggesting that the rise in both potassium and metabolite concentrations relies on a similar biological mechanism. In the first 24-h PMI window, the AH metabolomic profile shows greater predictive power than [K(+)] behaviour, suggesting its potential use as an additional tool for estimating the time since death. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00414-020-02468-w.