INCREASED SERUM AND CEREBROSPINAL FLUID SEX STEROID HORMONE LEVELS IN HYPOTHERMIA

Background. Sex steroid hormones are affected by the process of death. The objective of the present study was to compare the concentrations of sex steroid hormones in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of people who died from various causes, especially hypothermia, and to examine correlations between sex steroid hormone levels and the pathophysiology of various causes of death. Methods. Using chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay, the concentrations of testosterone (TE) and estradiol (E2) were analyzed in blood samples obtained from the right heart chambers and CSF of 233 bodies (150 males and 83 females, age range: 21 to 96 years, median age 64.0 years), for which an autopsy was performed within 72 hours of death. TE and E2 levels were assessed separately in males and females after grouping the causes of death as blunt injury, sharp instrument injury, fire fatality, asphyxia, drowning, intoxication, hyperthermia, hypothermia and sudden cardiac death. Results. TE and E2 concentrations in serum and CSF in both males and females were high in subjects who died from intoxication. E2 levels were also elevated in males in whom the cause of death was hypothermia, while serum TE concentrations were elevated in females who died from hypothermia. Conclusion. The present study showed that sex steroid hormone concentrations are affected by the cause of death, especially hypothermia, as seen in autopsy cases.