Vital reaction as enzymatic response to injury--with regard to distinction between antemortem and postmortem skin wounds by histochemical methods.

In order to discover early vital reactions the authors investigated the changes in the activity of alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase and esterase in antemortem and postmortem skin wounds. Dermal connective tissues adjacent to the wound edge showed a decrease in the activity of the three enzymes from 2 hours after vital wounding. Surrounding the decreased zone, along the wound edge, the activity of the three enzymes increased simultaneously in local fibroblasts from 2 hours and in immigrating leucocytes from 4 hours after vital wounding. The authors consider that these phenomena belong to the intravital reactions, since there were no such changes in postmortem wounds. Epidermis and hair follicles in the vicinity of the wound edge revealed an increased esterase activity as early as 30 minutes after vital wounding. Such a phenomenon was also seen even in postmortem skin wounds which were inflicted within 2 hours after death and preserved for a certain time inter val. On alkaline phosphatase and acid phosphatase, increased reactions in the epidermis and hair follicles could not be observed. It seems that this increase in esterase activity corresponds to the intermediate reactions. Accordingly, whether a wound is of vital origin or not, might not be decided solely by the earlier increase in esterase activity. Further, because of the simultaneous activation of the three enzymes, the estimation of the age of wounds should be based rather on the intensity and localization of the enzyme activities.