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Erschienen in: Rechtsmedizin 6/2009

01.12.2009 | Originalien

Identifying starvation episodes using stable isotopes in hair

Forensic approach on serial hair analysis

verfasst von: Dr. rer nat. A.-M. Mekota, G. Grupe, S. Ufer, U. Cuntz

Erschienen in: Rechtsmedizin | Ausgabe 6/2009

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Abstract

Background

Determination of the duration of malnutrition episodes in children or adults, especially to distinguish between acute and chronic malnutrition, is an important part of criminal law assessment. In a previous study a method to reliably detect starvation episodes by serial analysis of stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes in hair samples which can be non-invasively sampled was developed Sequential analysis of isotopic ratios of hair strands of all patients could be related to the respective body mass index (BMI) of each patient.

Materials and Methods

In this follow-up study a further seven patients and one control subject were recruited to validate this method.

Results

The hypothesis concerning a diachronic change in δ15N and δ13C during therapy was verified in this study.

Conclusion

In this study the application of stable isotopes with serial hair analysis in forensic studies with regard to malnutrition or starvation cases of children and adults has been verified. An unbiased biomarker to reliably determine the onset and duration of chronic or acute starvation in order to set a timeframe for each individual malnutrition neglect case has been established which is independent of age, race, geographical location and individual metabolism.
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Metadaten
Titel
Identifying starvation episodes using stable isotopes in hair
Forensic approach on serial hair analysis
verfasst von
Dr. rer nat. A.-M. Mekota
G. Grupe
S. Ufer
U. Cuntz
Publikationsdatum
01.12.2009
Verlag
Springer-Verlag
Erschienen in
Rechtsmedizin / Ausgabe 6/2009
Print ISSN: 0937-9819
Elektronische ISSN: 1434-5196
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00194-009-0630-3

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