[Determination of the myo-albumin content. A possibility to determine the hour of death (author's transl)].

The relatively high stability of albumin in the muscles of a corpse results in an increase of this fraction during the electrophoresis, which is dependent on time. The albumin content gives an inner standard, which can be used for indirect measurements of the proteolysis. Consequently albumin is a suitable parameter to determine post mortem intervals. Investigations carried out during post mortem examinations showed that the increase of the albumin content in skeletal muscles, after storage at 4 degrees C, proves to be roughly linear. From this investigation guidelines or data on the myo-albumin content can be found, which may be used in individual cases to determine the maximum post mortem interval, i.e. the maximum period of time the body lay after the hour of death. Albumin levels below 5.0 rel.% make it almost impossible to range the post mortem interval above one week.