溺死诊断中的浮游生物检测法

Techniques for detection of planktons in medico-legal investigation of deaths by drowning

溺水是常见的死亡原因之一,浮游生物检验是法医学鉴定溺死的重要依据。浮游生物检验方法可分为破机法、非破机法和分子生物学方法三大类。前两者主要以形态标记为检验对象,依赖于浮游生物的理化特性,有很大局限性。分子生物学方法以分子标记为检验对象,适用范围广,信息丰富,是值得探索的新方法。本文回顾溺死鉴定中的各种浮游生物检测法,供法医工作者在实践和研究中进行参考。

Drowning represents one of the leading causes of unnatural death. The plankton test is still considered as one of the useful methods for medico-legal investigation of death by drowning although controversies concerning the reliability of the test exist. The methods commonly used for detection of planktons generally include microscopic examination after tissue samples are destructed with or without strong acid, and detection of the planktons by molecular biological techniques. The evaluation of the positive results by the former methods are limited by the physical-chemical characters of the planktons. Detection of DNA genetic markers by molecular biological techniques, which can provide abundant information and is applicable to studying various planktons, is a novel method helpful for investigation of drowning. In the present paper, several techniques for detection of planktons were reviewed as references for medico-legal practitioners in investigation of suspected cases of drowning.