Postmortem Diagnosis of Induced Fatal Anaphylactic Shock in Rats

Anaphylactic shock is a sudden and serious life-threatening systemic hypersensitivity leading to a rapid, irreversible fatal circulatory collapse. Postmortem diagnosis of fatal anaphylaxis is a very sophisticated task in forensic medicine; it is usually excluded as the cause of death due to lack of autopsy findings. This study aims to find more specific criteria for the postmortem diagnosis of induced fatal anaphylaxis in rats by assessing the levels of total tryptase, histamine, immunoglobulin E (IgE) and histological changes in the larynx, trachea, lung, heart, and spleen using light and electron microscopes. Sixty adult albino rats were divided into three groups; each group consisted of twenty rats. The first (control) group received distilled water while the second and third groups received a single intravenous dose of ovalbumin and penicillin G, respectively, two weeks after active subcutaneous sensitization. The fatal anaphylactic shock led to a significant increase in the levels of total tryptase, histamine and immunoglobulin E (IgE) along with histological changes in the larynx, trachea, lung, heart, and spleen that vary its severity according to the anaphylaxis cause. Postmortem diagnosis of fatal anaphylaxis depends on multi- factorial criteria that include biochemical, immunological and histological findings.