Protein level in different body fluids

Assessment of protein levels in a variety of body fluids is often important in forensic evaluation and can be essential for determining the cause of death. Some cases will benefit with an evaluation of the inflammatory status for uncovering an underlying disease, as well as exclusion of alternative diagnoses. Postmortem degradation, violence and trauma inflicted on the body can sometimes limit the access to certain body fluids, therefore it is important to uncover if there is any difference in the level of proteins between different body fluids. Furthermore, postmortem contamination can occur, so assessment of alternative and suitable body fluids for biochemical analysis are important.

To avoid contamination challenges in studies within forensics, fluids like vitrous humor, cerebrospinal fluids (CSF), and pericardial fluid have been used, considering these are not as prone to contamination.

In this study, we examined postmortem IL-6 levels in serum, CSF and pericardial fluid to uncover if the level of measured protein varies between the different body fluids.