Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression of intercellular adhesion molecular-1(ICAM-1) mRNA in contused skeletal muscle of rats using fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH) and its relationship with the contusion interval.Methods To make the contusion models with rats skeletal muscle.The samples were taken to extract mRNA at 0.5 h,1 h,6 h,12 h,18 h,24 h,30 h and from the control group after contusion respectively.FISH was performed on frozen section samples and the sections were observed using LSCM.Results The expression of ICAM-1 mRNA peaked at 6 h in skeletal muscle after contusion.Its level fell to 3.46 times the level of control group at 18 h and then increased again.Conclusion The time-order expression of ICAM-1 mRNA in 30 hours after contusion is potentially useful for estimation of early wound age.

Key words: forensic pathology, contusion, intercellular adhesion molecules, in situ hybridization, fluorescence, wound age estimation, rats