Abstract: Objective To analyze the changes of the serum TNFα level in cadavers of drug anaphylactic shock(DAS) and to explore the significance of the TNFα testing in evaluation of death caused by DAS.Methods The level of serum TNFα from cardiac blood was determined by double antibody-sandwich ELISA method.Results The level of TNFα in the experimental group was(131.6±9.4) pg/mL,while the level in the infectious diseases control group and the normal control group were(87.3±6.4) pg/mL and(17.2±4.5) pg/mL,respectively.There was statistically significant difference among the groups(P<0.05).Conclusion The serum TNFα level may be used as one of the indexes for evaluation of death caused by highly suspected drug anaphylactic shock.

Key words: forensic pathology, tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNFα), drug hypersensitivity, anaphylaxis, cause of death