Autolysis

When the organism dies, the cells begin the process of self-digestion. Enzymes within each cell
are released and work to destroy the cell. This process is called AUTOLYSIS.

Autolysis is also referred to as “postmortem change.” These are changes that occur in the tissue
AFTER DEATH of the animal.

Autolysis makes histology difficult to interpret. As the cells degenerate and auto-digest, they
look “blurry” and indistinct, you can no longer see the outlines of the cells or the tissues.

The longer the period after death, the more autolysis is apparent. Collecting tissues as soon as
possible after death allows the pathologist to see the cells as they were, before the autolytic
changes began and progressed.

Certain tissues - intestinal tract, pancreas, and liver - autolyze quickly because they have more
enzymes that also contribute to the self-digestion. Also, as soon as death occurs, the bacteria in
the intestine move right up the bile duct into the liver, and so the liver is very susceptible to
autolysis.

The speed of autolysis also depends on temperature. The warmer the tissue is, the faster the
autolysis progresses. Consequently animals that die on a hot day and are left outside will have
more autolysis. Also, if an animal dies with a fever, autolysis will progress more rapidly. Large
animals tend to autolyze faster as well, because in large carcasses, the innermost tissues stay
warm longer after death (just takes longer for a large body to cool than a small body).

Recognizing autolysis is helpful. If the tissues grossly are autolyzed, there may not be much to
see histologically.

This liver from a sheep has multiple (paler than Here is an opened dog carcass. The dog had
normal) areas where there has been autolysis. been dead for 7 days before the necropsy,
you can hardly even recognize which organs
are which – this is severe autolysis.