ArticleAnalytical and bioanalytical chemistry2026
Disentangling the roles of age and insect colonization in the temporal succession of VOC profiles in rat decomposition.
Article in Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Accurately estimating the postmortem interval (PMI) is a pivotal forensic challenge, as the precision of "chemical clocks" based on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is confounded by intrinsic factors like age and extrinsic factors like insect colonization. This study aimed to disentangle these effects using TD-GC-MS with multivariate analysis to profile VOCs from rats of three ages with and without Sarcophaga peregrina (Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) colonization. While decomposition time was the principal driver of VOC succession, exhibiting stage-specific signatures like early-phase 2-hexanone and mid-phase aromatics, age and insects modulated this timeline via distinct mechanisms. Age increased the chemical complexity of VOC profiles, with adult rats showing significantly more diverse VOC profiles than younger cohorts during days 10-14 (p < 0.05). In contrast, insect colonization acted as a potent accelerator, advancing the chemical timeline by approximately 6 days, with the day 4 profile of colonized rats mirroring the day 10 profile of insect-free ones. We demonstrate that age increases the chemical heterogeneity of VOC profiles while insects accelerate temporal progression. Both factors must therefore be integrated as critical variables in VOC-based PMI models to ensure accuracy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
41688779What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.