Usefulness of protein analysis for detecting pathologies in bone remains

Prion forensics: a multidisciplinary approach to investigate CWD at an illegal deer carcass disposal site

Infectious prions are resistant to degradation and remain infectious in the environment for several years. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in cervids inhabiting North America, the Nordic countries, and South Korea. CWD-prion spread is partially attributed to carcass transport and disposal. We employed a forensic approach to investigate an illegal carcass dump site connected with a CWD-positive herd. We integrated anatomic, genetic, and prion amplification methods to discover CWD-positive remains from six white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and, using microsatellite markers, confirmed a portion originated from the CWD-infected herd. This approach provides a foundation for future studies of carcass prion transmission risk.

Association between protein profile and postmortem interval in human bone remains

Proteomic techniques in bones forensic samples are increasingly, being applied. The main aim of forensic sciences is the estimation of postmortem interval. Most current techniques are useful for the first post-mortem stages. However, in the case of osseous remains, these techniques may be difficult to use due to the high level of decomposition of the sample. Our objective was to attempt to know whether there is a protein profile in human bone remains that would enable a late postmortem. interval ranging from 5 to 20 years postmortem to be estimated. A total of 40 femur bones from 40 different cadavers (data range 5-20 years) were use. Of the 275 total proteins, we excluded the circulating ones (n = 227), leaving a total of 48 proteins (29 structural and 19 functional) were found. A multiple correspondence analysis was applied on the 48 proteins. Finally selecting 32 proteins that allowed us to discriminate between the. two groups of postmortem interval. Analysis of the protein profile present in bone permits an approximation of the date of death within the studied interval, and could be used to complement other tests for estimating the postmortem interval.

How do skeletons with HIV present? A study on the identified CAL Milano Cemetery Skeletal Collection

With the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) pandemic, the study of HIV/AIDS on bones has become of pivotal interest for research in bone pathologies, forensic applications (especially in the matter of identification when confronted to antemortem data) and medical purposes. In this paper, we document and discuss the macroscopic lesions found on the skeletons of nine individuals with known HIV, including four with known AIDS, coming from the identified CAL Milano Cemetery Skeletal Collection. As a result, several types of lesions were observed on bones: periosteal new bone formation, dental lesions, thickening of the frontal diploë, destructive localized porosity and evidence of trauma. None of the lesions reported can be directly linked to HIV because the virus does not directly affect bones in a macroscopic way. However, HIV/AIDS-induced infections and inflammations and HIV-related risk factors may leave bone markers. The differential diagnosis of each of the lesions noted in this research and its potential link to HIV or AIDS was discussed. Although it is not possible to diagnose HIV on bare bones, this was not the focus of this study. To our knowledge, no anthropological study has ever been performed on known HIV individuals. With this paper, we present for the first time skeletons with known HIV.