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Early increase in TNF-alpha-containing mast cells in skin lesions

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Abstract

We have evaluated the numbers and immunohistochemical positivity for tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha of the mast cells in (a) 40 skin samples collected at autopsy from subjects who had survived for a few seconds to 1 h, (b) 10 samples of post-mortem skin lesions and (c) 10 surgical biopsies of healthy skin. Sections were treated with fluoresceinated avidin, to tag mast cell granules, followed by indirect immunohistochemistry for TNF-alpha with polyclonal primary and rhodaminated secondary antibodies. We could confirm a progressive increase in mast cell numbers, which became significant 1 h after trauma. More important, the fraction of mast cells positive for TNF-alpha increased progressively in the same time period and became significantly higher than controls in specimens collected more than 15 min after trauma. Samples from post-mortem lesions had significantly fewer mast cells and fewer TNF-alpha-positive cells than any other group of samples. The results suggest that mast cells are quickly recruited to an injured site in response to trauma and upregulate their TNF-alpha content, which can play an early role in directing tissue response to injury. The forensic pathologist can take advantage from this behavior of mast cells for the evaluation of the timing of early vital lesions.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Science. Preliminary reports of this study were presented at the 6th Congress of the Italian Federation of Life Science Societies (Riva del Garda, 2004). The technical assistance of Dr. A. Vassallo, Mr. T. Venturi, Mr. P. Venturi, Mr. P. Guasti and Ms. L. Calosi is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Histology, and Forensic Medicine, Section E. Allara, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Viale Pieraccini 6, 50134, Florence, Italy

    S. Bacci & P. Romagnoli

  2. Department of Anatomy, Histology, and Forensic Medicine, Section of Forensic Medicine, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Florence, Italy

    G. A. Norelli, A. L. Forestieri & A. Bonelli

Authors
  1. S. Bacci
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  2. P. Romagnoli
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  3. G. A. Norelli
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  4. A. L. Forestieri
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  5. A. Bonelli
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Correspondence to S. Bacci.

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Bacci, S., Romagnoli, P., Norelli, G.A. et al. Early increase in TNF-alpha-containing mast cells in skin lesions. Int J Legal Med 120, 138–142 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-005-0030-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-005-0030-5

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