Immunohistochemical evaluation of hypoxia markers in the myocardium

Some proteins, termed hypoxia markers, are more highly expressed in hypoxic cells including ischemic cells. We evaluated the timing of the expression of various hypoxia markers and their specificity of expression in the myocardium in various causes of death. We selected two cases for each cause of death from the forensic autopsies performed by our department and evaluated the diffuse expression of hypoxia markers in the myocardium. We also evaluated the focal expression of these markers in the ventricles of five sudden cardiac death cases. We found that the expression of hypoxia markers in the myocardium varied depending on the cause of death and length of the dying process. This information may help in determining the cause of death in forensic medicine. In particular, we identified RBM3 and CCC9 as markers for ischemic heart disease. Immunohistological staining of myocardium with hypoxia markers could help to find the cause leading to death.