The purpose of the study was to determine the individual components in the biofluid extracted from the tissue of the Achilles tendon during 20 days of the postmortem period. This was performed in order to develop a method for determining the duration of death and assessing the conditions of the body's presence. Material and methods. As a result of the autolysis processes there occur some changes in tissues of the Achilles tendon during 1-20 days after death. Concentrations of various substances were determined by the biochemical method. These changes reflect the development of biochemical reactions of various types in tissues after death. Results and discussion. It was found out that autolysis in the connective tissue of the Achilles tendon occurred more slowly than in other tissues. We checked fluctuations of enzymes (amylase, alkaline phosphatase, AST (aspartate aminotransferase), total protein, uric acid, urea, cholesterol, sodium, potassium and iron. There was revealed dependence between increasing of biochemical processes activity in different periods due to the activation of different localization enzymes in the cell. We also obtained values median for contained components and their relations for different groups. Oscillatory changes of the ingredients contained in the liquid were revealed too. The usage of statistical methods of analysis is impossible due this effect. This is because the same concentrations of substances are found in different groups. It turned out that the methods of mathematical classification are more suitable for the purpose (assignment) of the sample to a given group. The criteria for the analysis of differences between the content of components were proposed. Conclusions. After checking several methods were obtained the best results with the help of the method of Euclidean distance calculating in the multidimensional space from the centers of the given groups to the sample (the method of the closer neighbor). Their coordinates are the values of biochemical parameters. The biochemical method can be of prognostic value for determining the death’s time in the late postmortem period and assessing the condition of the corpse.

Keywords: autolysis, the Achilles tendon, biochemical substances, time of death, postmortem interval

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