Background and objective: Drowning is the death caused by fluid blocking the airway leading asphyxiation. One of the most difficult challenges in forensic medicine is making the diagnosis of drowning. Drowning is considered one of the most common causes of unnatural deaths worldwide. Determining whether a body entered water before or after it died is crucial in the practise of forensic medicine. The objective of this study was to differentiate drowning from post mortem submersion using receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE).
Methods: Twenty adult male albino rats were used in this study. They were split into 2 groups (drowning and postmortem submersion). There were ten rats per group. Each rat's lungs were meticulously sampled, and PCR was used to assess RAGE expression.
Results: RAGE expression showed a significant difference between drowning and postmortem submersion groups.
Conclusion: RAGE could be a helpful biomarker for differentiating drowning from postmortem submersion.