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Modeling microbial ethanol production by S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, and E. faecalis under aerobic/anaerobic conditions — applicability to laboratory cultures and real postmortem cases

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Abstract

A quite intriguing subject being intensively researched in the forensic toxicology field is the source of postmortem determined blood ethanol concentration: antemortem ingestion or postmortem microbial production. Our previous research on microbial ethanol production has reported a quantitative relationship between the ethanol and the higher alcohols and 1-butanol produced by Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfrigens, and Clostridium sporogenes. In this contribution, we continue our research reporting on the following: (i) the patterns of ethanol, higher alcohols, and 1-butanol production by the microbes Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus faecalis (all being aerobic/facultative anaerobic species, common corpse’s colonizers, and ethanol producers), under controlled laboratory conditions, (ii) the mathematical modeling, with simple mathematical equations, of the correlation between ethanol concentration and the other studied alcohols’ concentrations, by performing multiple linear regression analysis of the results, and (iii) the applicability of the constructed models in microbial cultures developed under different temperature than that used to build the models, in denatured blood cultures and in real postmortem cases. The aforementioned alcohols were proved to be all indicators of ethanol production, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. 1-Propanol was the most significant alcohol in modeling microbial ethanol production, followed by methyl-butanol. The K. pneumoniae’s models achieved the best scoring in applicability (E < 40%) compared to the S. aureus and E. faecalis models, both at laboratory microbial cultures at 37 °C and real postmortem cases. Overall, a noteworthy accuracy in estimating the microbial ethanol in cultures and autopsy blood is achieved by the employed simple linear models.

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Funding

This research is co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund-ESF) through the Operational Program “Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning 2014–2020” in the context of the project “Strengthening Human Resources Research Potential via Doctorate Research-2nd Cycle” (MIS-5000432), implemented by the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Ioannina, Greece

    Glykeria Velivasi & Vassiliki A. Boumba

  2. Department of Medical Physics, Ioannina, Greece

    Nikolaos Kourkoumelis

  3. Department of Microbiology, Ioannina, Greece

    Hercules Sakkas

  4. Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110, Ioannina, Greece

    Vassiliki A. Boumba

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  1. Glykeria Velivasi
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  2. Nikolaos Kourkoumelis
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  3. Hercules Sakkas
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  4. Vassiliki A. Boumba
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Correspondence to Vassiliki A. Boumba.

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The original online version of this article was revised: Originally, the article has been published online with error in author name. Iraklis Sakkas should be corrected to Hercules Sakkas.

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Velivasi, G., Kourkoumelis, N., Sakkas, H. et al. Modeling microbial ethanol production by S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, and E. faecalis under aerobic/anaerobic conditions — applicability to laboratory cultures and real postmortem cases. Int J Legal Med 135, 2555–2565 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-021-02638-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-021-02638-4

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