1
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Hamza M, Sankhyan D, Shukla S, Pandey P. Advances in body fluid identification: MiRNA markers as powerful tool. Int J Legal Med 2024; 138:1223-1232. [PMID: 38467753 DOI: 10.1007/s00414-024-03202-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
Body fluids are one of the most encountered types of evidence in any crime and are commonly used for identifying a person's identity. In addition to these, they are also useful in ascertaining the nature of crime by determining the ty pe of fluid such as blood, semen, saliva, urine etc. Body fluids collected from crime scenes are mostly found in degraded, trace amounts and/or mixed with other fluids. However, the existing immunological and enzyme-based methods used for differentiating these fluids show limited specificity and sensitivity in such cases. To overcome these challenges, a new method utilizing microRNA expression of the body fluids has been proposed. This method is believed to be non-destructive as well as sensitive in nature and researches have shown promising results for highly degraded samples as well. This systematic review focuses on and explores the use and reliability of miRNAs in body fluid identification. It also summarizes the researches conducted on various aspects of miRNA in terms of body fluid examination in forensic investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohd Hamza
- Department of Forensic Science, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, 144411, India
| | - Deeksha Sankhyan
- Department of Forensic Science, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, 144411, India.
| | - Saurabh Shukla
- Department of Forensic Science, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, 144411, India
| | - Preeti Pandey
- Department of Forensic Science, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, 144411, India
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2
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Gerra MC, Dallabona C, Cecchi R. Epigenetic analyses in forensic medicine: future and challenges. Int J Legal Med 2024; 138:701-719. [PMID: 38242965 PMCID: PMC11003920 DOI: 10.1007/s00414-024-03165-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 01/21/2024]
Abstract
The possibility of using epigenetics in forensic investigation has gradually risen over the last few years. Epigenetic changes with their dynamic nature can either be inherited or accumulated throughout a lifetime and be reversible, prompting investigation of their use across various fields. In forensic sciences, multiple applications have been proposed, such as the discrimination of monozygotic twins, identifying the source of a biological trace left at a crime scene, age prediction, determination of body fluids and tissues, human behavior association, wound healing progression, and determination of the post-mortem interval (PMI). Despite all these applications, not all the studies considered the impact of PMI and post-sampling effects on the epigenetic modifications and the tissue-specificity of the epigenetic marks.This review aims to highlight the substantial forensic significance that epigenetics could support in various forensic investigations. First, basic concepts in epigenetics, describing the main epigenetic modifications and their functions, in particular, DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNA, with a particular focus on forensic applications, were covered. For each epigenetic marker, post-mortem stability and tissue-specificity, factors that should be carefully considered in the study of epigenetic biomarkers in the forensic context, have been discussed. The advantages and limitations of using post-mortem tissues have been also addressed, proposing directions for these innovative strategies to analyze forensic specimens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Carla Gerra
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area Delle Scienze 11a, Viale Delle Scienze 11a, 43124, Parma, PR, Italy
| | - Cristina Dallabona
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences, and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area Delle Scienze 11a, Viale Delle Scienze 11a, 43124, Parma, PR, Italy.
| | - Rossana Cecchi
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Via Antonio Gramsci 14, 43126, Parma, PR, Italy
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3
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Tang X, Wen D, Jin X, Wang C, Xu W, Qu W, Xu R, Jia H, Liu Y, Li X, Chen S, Fu X, Liang B, Li J, Liu Y, Zha L. A preliminary study on identification of the blood donor in a body fluid mixture using a novel compound genetic marker blood-specific methylation-microhaplotype. Forensic Sci Int Genet 2024; 70:103031. [PMID: 38493735 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Revised: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
Blood-containing mixtures are frequently encountered at crime scenes involving violence and murder. However, the presence of blood, and the association of blood with a specific donor within these mixtures present significant challenges in forensic analysis. In light of these challenges, this study sought to address these issues by leveraging blood-specific methylation sites and closely linked microhaplotype sites, proposing a novel composite genetic marker known as "blood-specific methylation-microhaplotype". This marker was designed to the detection of blood and the determination of blood donor within blood-containing mixtures. According to the selection criteria mentioned in the Materials and Methods section, we selected 10 blood-specific methylation-microhaplotype loci for inclusion in this study. Among these loci, eight exhibited blood-specific hypomethylation, while the remaining two displayed blood-specific hypermethylation. Based on data obtained from 124 individual samples in our study, the combined discrimination power (CPD) of these 10 successfully sequenced loci was 0.999999298. The sample allele methylation rate (Ram) was obtained from massive parallel sequencing (MPS), which was defined as the proportion of methylated reads to the total clustered reads that were genotyped to a specific allele. To develop an allele type classification model capable of identifying the presence of blood and the blood donor, we used the Random Forest algorithm. This model was trained and evaluated using the Ram distribution of individual samples and the Ram distribution of simulated shared alleles. Subsequently, we applied the developed allele type classification model to predict alleles within actual mixtures, trying to exclude non-blood-specific alleles, ultimately allowing us to identify the presence of blood and the blood donor in the blood-containing mixtures. Our findings demonstrate that these blood-specific methylation-microhaplotype loci have the capability to not only detect the presence of blood but also accurately associate blood with the true donor in blood-containing mixtures with the mixing ratios of 1:29, 1:19, 1:9, 1:4, 1:2, 2:1, 7:1, 8:1, 31:1 and 36:1 (blood:non-blood) by DNA mixture interpretation methods. In addition, the presence of blood and the true blood donor could be identified in a mixture containing four body fluids (blood:vaginal fluid:semen:saliva = 1:1:1:1). It is important to note that while these loci exhibit great potential, the impact of allele dropouts and alleles misidentification must be considered when interpreting the results. This is a preliminary study utilising blood-specific methylation-microhaplotype as a complementary tool to other well-established genetic markers (STR, SNP, microhaplotype, etc.) for the analysis in blood-containing mixtures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuan Tang
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, No172. Tongzipo Road, Changsha, Hunan 410013, PR China
| | - Dan Wen
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, No172. Tongzipo Road, Changsha, Hunan 410013, PR China
| | - Xin Jin
- Department of Public Security of Hainan Province, Haikou, Hainan Province, PR China
| | - Chudong Wang
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, No172. Tongzipo Road, Changsha, Hunan 410013, PR China
| | - Wei Xu
- Central Laboratory, Hunan Provincal People's Hospital (The First Affiliated Hospitak of Hunan Normal University), Changsha, Hunan Province 410000, PR China
| | - Weifeng Qu
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, No172. Tongzipo Road, Changsha, Hunan 410013, PR China
| | - Ruyi Xu
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, No172. Tongzipo Road, Changsha, Hunan 410013, PR China
| | - Hongtao Jia
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, No172. Tongzipo Road, Changsha, Hunan 410013, PR China
| | - Yi Liu
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, No172. Tongzipo Road, Changsha, Hunan 410013, PR China
| | - Xue Li
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830017, PR China
| | - Siqi Chen
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, No172. Tongzipo Road, Changsha, Hunan 410013, PR China
| | - Xiaoyi Fu
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, No172. Tongzipo Road, Changsha, Hunan 410013, PR China
| | - Bin Liang
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, No172. Tongzipo Road, Changsha, Hunan 410013, PR China
| | - Jienan Li
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, No172. Tongzipo Road, Changsha, Hunan 410013, PR China
| | - Ying Liu
- Xiangya Stomatological Collage, Central South University, No72. Xiangya Road, Changsha, Hunan 410013, PR China.
| | - Lagabaiyila Zha
- Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, No172. Tongzipo Road, Changsha, Hunan 410013, PR China; Hebei Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, School of Forensic Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, PR China.
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Song B, Qian J, Fu J. Research progress and potential application of microRNA and other non-coding RNAs in forensic medicine. Int J Legal Med 2024; 138:329-350. [PMID: 37770641 DOI: 10.1007/s00414-023-03091-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/30/2023]
Abstract
At present, epigenetic markers have been extensively studied in various fields and have a high value in forensic medicine due to their unique mode of inheritance, which does not involve DNA sequence alterations. As an epigenetic phenomenon that plays an important role in gene expression, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) act as key factors mediating gene silencing, participating in cell division, and regulating immune response and other important biological processes. With the development of molecular biology, genetics, bioinformatics, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, ncRNAs such as microRNA (miRNA), circular RNA (circRNA), long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), and P-element induced wimpy testis (PIWI)-interacting RNA (piRNA) are increasingly been shown to have potential in the practice of forensic medicine. NcRNAs, mainly miRNA, may provide new strategies and methods for the identification of tissues and body fluids, cause-of-death analysis, time-related estimation, age estimation, and the identification of monozygotic twins. In this review, we describe the research progress and application status of ncRNAs, mainly miRNA, and other ncRNAs such as circRNA, lncRNA, and piRNA, in forensic practice, including the identification of tissues and body fluids, cause-of-death analysis, time-related estimation, age estimation, and the identification of monozygotic twins. The close links between ncRNAs and forensic medicine are presented, and their research values and application prospects in forensic medicine are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Binghui Song
- Key Laboratory of Epigenetics and Oncology, the Research Center for Preclinical Medicine, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, Sichuan, China
- Laboratory of Precision Medicine and DNA Forensic Medicine, the Research Center for Preclinical Medicine, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, Sichuan, China
| | - Jie Qian
- Key Laboratory of Epigenetics and Oncology, the Research Center for Preclinical Medicine, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, Sichuan, China
- Laboratory of Precision Medicine and DNA Forensic Medicine, the Research Center for Preclinical Medicine, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, Sichuan, China
| | - Junjiang Fu
- Key Laboratory of Epigenetics and Oncology, the Research Center for Preclinical Medicine, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, Sichuan, China.
- Laboratory of Precision Medicine and DNA Forensic Medicine, the Research Center for Preclinical Medicine, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, Sichuan, China.
- Laboratory of Forensic DNA, the Judicial Authentication Center, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, Sichuan, China.
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Liu Z, Liu J, Geng J, Wu E, Zhu J, Cong B, Wu R, Sun H. Metatranscriptomic characterization of six types of forensic samples and its potential application to body fluid/tissue identification: A pilot study. Forensic Sci Int Genet 2024; 68:102978. [PMID: 37995518 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2023.102978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2023] [Revised: 10/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023]
Abstract
Microorganisms are potential markers for identifying body fluids (venous and menstrual blood, semen, saliva, and vaginal secretion) and skin tissue in forensic genetics. Existing published studies have mainly focused on investigating microbial DNA by 16 S rRNA gene sequencing or metagenome shotgun sequencing. We rarely find microbial RNA level investigations on common forensic body fluid/tissue. Therefore, the use of metatranscriptomics to characterize common forensic body fluids/tissue has not been explored in detail, and the potential application of metatranscriptomics in forensic science remains unknown. Here, we performed 30 metatranscriptome analyses on six types of common forensic sample from healthy volunteers by massively parallel sequencing. After quality control and host RNA filtering, a total of 345,300 unigenes were assembled from clean reads. Four kingdoms, 137 phyla, 267 classes, 488 orders, 985 families, 2052 genera, and 4690 species were annotated across all samples. Alpha- and beta-diversity and differential analysis were also performed. As a result, the saliva and skin groups demonstrated high alpha diversity (Simpson index), while the venous blood group exhibited the lowest diversity despite a high Chao1 index. Specifically, we discussed potential microorganism contamination and the "core microbiome," which may be of special interest to forensic researchers. In addition, we implemented and evaluated artificial neural network (ANN), random forest (RF), and support vector machine (SVM) models for forensic body fluid/tissue identification (BFID) using genus- and species-level metatranscriptome profiles. The ANN and RF prediction models discriminated six forensic body fluids/tissue, demonstrating that the microbial RNA-based method could be applied to BFID. Unlike metagenomic research, metatranscriptomic analysis can provide information about active microbial communities; thus, it may have greater potential to become a powerful tool in forensic science for microbial-based individual identification. This study represents the first attempt to explore the application potential of metatranscriptome profiles in forensic science. Our findings help deepen our understanding of the microorganism community structure at the RNA level and are beneficial for other forensic applications of metatranscriptomics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiyong Liu
- Faculty of Forensic Medicine, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China; Guangdong Province Translational Forensic Medicine Engineering Technology Research Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - Jiajun Liu
- Faculty of Forensic Medicine, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China; Guangdong Province Translational Forensic Medicine Engineering Technology Research Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - Jiaojiao Geng
- Faculty of Forensic Medicine, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China; Guangdong Province Translational Forensic Medicine Engineering Technology Research Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - Enlin Wu
- Faculty of Forensic Medicine, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China; Guangdong Province Translational Forensic Medicine Engineering Technology Research Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - Jianzhang Zhu
- Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510080, China
| | - Bin Cong
- College of Forensic Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Hebei Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shijiazhuang 050017, China.
| | - Riga Wu
- Faculty of Forensic Medicine, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China; Guangdong Province Translational Forensic Medicine Engineering Technology Research Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
| | - Hongyu Sun
- Faculty of Forensic Medicine, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China; Guangdong Province Translational Forensic Medicine Engineering Technology Research Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
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Chen H, Hu S, Yang R, Hu S, Yao Q, Zhao Y, Lian J, Ji A, Cao Y, Sun Q. The screening and validation process of miR-223-3p for saliva identification. Leg Med (Tokyo) 2023; 65:102312. [PMID: 37603982 DOI: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2023.102312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Revised: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023]
Abstract
More accurate identification of the types of body fluids left at a crime scene is indispensable for improving the judicial chain of evidence. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have become recognized as ideal molecular markers for the identification of body fluids in forensic science due to their short length, stability and high tissue specificity. In this study, small RNA sequencing was performed on 20 samples of five types of body fluids (peripheral blood, menstrual blood, saliva, semen, and vaginal secretions) with the BGISEQ-500 sequencing platform, and the specific miRNA markers of saliva and vaginal secretions were screened by bioinformatics methods, including differential expression analysis and significant enrichment analysis. Through RT-qPCR validation of 169 samples, we confirmed that miR-223-3p can be used as a saliva-specific marker. In addition, we considered miR-223-3p in combination with four other miRNA molecules (miR-451a, miR-891a-5p, miR-144-5p, miR-203a-3p) that had been previously screened and verified in our laboratory, and seven body fluid prediction models based on machine learning algorithms were constructed and verified. The results showed that a kernel density estimation (KDE) model based on the five miRNA markers for body fluid identification could achieve 100% accuracy in the samples tested in the present study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huixiang Chen
- MPS's Key Laboratory of Forensic Genetics, National Engineering Laboratory for Crime Scene Evidence Investigation and Examination, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security (MPS), Beijing 100038, China; Faculty of Forensic Sciences, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, Shanxi, China
| | - Sheng Hu
- MPS's Key Laboratory of Forensic Genetics, National Engineering Laboratory for Crime Scene Evidence Investigation and Examination, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security (MPS), Beijing 100038, China
| | - Rui Yang
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Shuxiao Hu
- MPS's Key Laboratory of Forensic Genetics, National Engineering Laboratory for Crime Scene Evidence Investigation and Examination, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security (MPS), Beijing 100038, China; School of Investigation, People's Public Security University of China, Beijing 100038, China
| | - Qianwei Yao
- MPS's Key Laboratory of Forensic Genetics, National Engineering Laboratory for Crime Scene Evidence Investigation and Examination, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security (MPS), Beijing 100038, China; Faculty of Forensic Sciences, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, Shanxi, China
| | - Yixia Zhao
- MPS's Key Laboratory of Forensic Genetics, National Engineering Laboratory for Crime Scene Evidence Investigation and Examination, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security (MPS), Beijing 100038, China
| | - Jie Lian
- School of Investigation, People's Public Security University of China, Beijing 100038, China
| | - Anquan Ji
- MPS's Key Laboratory of Forensic Genetics, National Engineering Laboratory for Crime Scene Evidence Investigation and Examination, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security (MPS), Beijing 100038, China.
| | - Yang Cao
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China.
| | - Qifan Sun
- MPS's Key Laboratory of Forensic Genetics, National Engineering Laboratory for Crime Scene Evidence Investigation and Examination, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security (MPS), Beijing 100038, China.
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Chen X, Xu H, Zhu B. Forensic validation of a combined analysis of mRNA and miRNA markers for precise tissue origin inferences of five kinds of body fluids by RT-qPCR. Electrophoresis 2023; 44:1714-1724. [PMID: 37847880 DOI: 10.1002/elps.202300059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023]
Abstract
Correctly inferring the tissue origin types of forensic-relevant body fluids left at a crime scene is beneficial for reconstructing a crime scene. However, it is still a challenge to accurately identify different kinds of body fluids at a crime scene. Shorter sequence length and anti-degradation microRNA (miRNA) can be used to infer the tissue sources of biological fluid traces, but a limited number of miRNAs are tissue specific. The application of messenger RNA (mRNA) has been confirmed by different studies based on its high tissue specificity. According to the differential expression features of mRNA or miRNA in forensically relevant body fluids, this study developed a simultaneously reversed mRNA and miRNA system and then used these two types of RNAs for the determinations of five common kinds of body fluids. Compared with previously reported single kind of mRNA or miRNA assay, the combined mRNA and miRNA system showed good advantages for human body fluid identifications, especially it could be applied in mixed samples. In conclusion, the obtained results indicated that this combined mRNA and miRNA system might provide a scientific and accurate reference for body fluid identifications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuebing Chen
- Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Forensic Multi-Omics for Precision Identification, School of Forensic Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China
| | - Hui Xu
- Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Forensic Multi-Omics for Precision Identification, School of Forensic Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China
| | - Bofeng Zhu
- Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Forensic Multi-Omics for Precision Identification, School of Forensic Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China
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Chen M, Lan Q, Nie S, Hu L, Fang Y, Cui W, Bai X, Liu L, Zhu B. Forensic efficiencies of individual identification, kinship testing and ancestral inference in three Yunnan groups based on a self-developed multiple DIP panel. Front Genet 2023; 13:1057231. [PMID: 36685924 PMCID: PMC9845582 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.1057231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Deletion/insertion polymorphism (DIP), as a short insertion/deletion sequence polymorphic genetic marker, has attracted the attention of forensic genetic scientist due to its lack of stutter, short amplicon and abundant ancestral information. In this study, based on a self-developed 43 autosomal deletion/insertion polymorphism (A-DIP) loci panel which could meet the forensic application purposes of individual identification, kinship testing and ancestral inference to some extent, we evaluated the forensic efficiencies of the above three forensic objectives in Chinese Yi, Hani and Miao groups of Yunnan province. The cumulative match probability (CPM) and combined probability of exclusion (CPE) of these three groups were 1.11433E-18, 8.24299E-19, 4.21721E-18; 0.999610217, 0.999629285 and 0.999582084, respectively. Average 96.65% full sibling pairs could be identified from unrelated individual pairs (as likelihood ratios > 1) using this DIP panel, whereas the average false positive rate was 3.69% in three target Yunnan groups. With the biogeographical ancestor prediction models constructed by extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) and support vector machine (SVM) algorithms, 0.8239 (95% CI 0.7984, 0.8474) of the unrelated individuals could be correctly divided according to the continental origins based on the 43 A-DIPs which were large frequency distribution differentiations among different continental populations. The present results of principal component analysis (PCA), multidimensional scaling (MDS), neighbor joining (NJ) and maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic trees and STRUCTURE analyses indicated that these three Yunnan groups had relatively close genetic distances with East Asian populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Man Chen
- Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Forensic Multi-Omics for Precision Identification, School of Forensic Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qiong Lan
- Microbiome Medicine Center, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shengjie Nie
- School of Forensic Medicine, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Liping Hu
- School of Forensic Medicine, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Yating Fang
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Wei Cui
- Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Forensic Multi-Omics for Precision Identification, School of Forensic Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaole Bai
- Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Forensic Multi-Omics for Precision Identification, School of Forensic Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Liu Liu
- Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Forensic Multi-Omics for Precision Identification, School of Forensic Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Bofeng Zhu
- Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Forensic Multi-Omics for Precision Identification, School of Forensic Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Microbiome Medicine Center, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China,Key Laboratory of Shaanxi Province for Craniofacial Precision Medicine Research, College of Stomatology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China,*Correspondence: Bofeng Zhu,
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9
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Raman Spectroscopy for the Determination of Forensically Important Bio-fluids. Forensic Sci Int 2022; 340:111441. [DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2022.111441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 07/30/2022] [Accepted: 08/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Sijen T, Harbison S. On the Identification of Body Fluids and Tissues: A Crucial Link in the Investigation and Solution of Crime. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:1728. [PMID: 34828334 PMCID: PMC8617621 DOI: 10.3390/genes12111728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Revised: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Body fluid and body tissue identification are important in forensic science as they can provide key evidence in a criminal investigation and may assist the court in reaching conclusions. Establishing a link between identifying the fluid or tissue and the DNA profile adds further weight to this evidence. Many forensic laboratories retain techniques for the identification of biological fluids that have been widely used for some time. More recently, many different biomarkers and technologies have been proposed for identification of body fluids and tissues of forensic relevance some of which are now used in forensic casework. Here, we summarize the role of body fluid/ tissue identification in the evaluation of forensic evidence, describe how such evidence is detected at the crime scene and in the laboratory, elaborate different technologies available to do this, and reflect real life experiences. We explain how, by including this information, crucial links can be made to aid in the investigation and solution of crime.
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Affiliation(s)
- Titia Sijen
- Division Human Biological Traces, Netherlands Forensic Institute, Laan van Ypenburg 6, 2497 GB The Hague, The Netherlands
- Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - SallyAnn Harbison
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited, Private Bag 92021, Auckland 1142, New Zealand;
- Department of Statistics, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
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Esposito M, Licciardello G, Privitera F, Iannuzzi S, Liberto A, Sessa F, Salerno M. Forensic Post-Mortem Investigation in AAS Abusers: Investigative Diagnostic Protocol. A Systematic Review. Diagnostics (Basel) 2021; 11:diagnostics11081307. [PMID: 34441242 PMCID: PMC8393338 DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics11081307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Revised: 07/15/2021] [Accepted: 07/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Anabolic–androgenic steroids (AASs) are a group of synthetic molecules derived from testosterone and its precursors. AASs are widely used illicitly by adolescents and athletes, especially by bodybuilders; AASs are among the most used drugs for improving physical performance, as well as for aesthetic purposes. The use of AASs by professional and recreational athletes is increasing worldwide. This review focused on deaths related to AAS abuse and to investigation of the autopsy results and histopathological findings using a rigorous methodology protocol covering: a complete autopsy, histological analysis, and a broad toxicological investigation. Moreover, we aimed to define an investigative diagnostic protocol supporting forensic pathologists during the post-mortem investigation of AAS abusers. This review was conducted using PubMed Central and Google Scholar databases to find articles published between 1 January 1968 and 30 June 2021, using the following key terms: “(anabolic-androgenic steroids) AND (autopsy); (anabolic-androgenic steroids) AND (forensic)”. A total of 939 articles were screened and 926 did not meet the inclusion criteria. In conclusion, 14 articles were included in this systematic review, reporting 137 fatal cases of AAS abuse in total. The histopathologic studies showed myocardial damage characterized by myocyte hypertrophy, focal myocyte damage with myofibrillar loss, interstitial fibrosis, mostly subepicardial, and small vessel disease. Indeed, in AAS-related cases, autopsy plays a pivotal role in the study of AAS adverse effects and organ damage related to their use or abuse. This systematic review aimed to define a specific workflow in death cases related to AASs, suggesting important future insights to better clarify sudden deaths related to AASs, such as the use of miRNAs. The forensic community needs a unified approach in cases of suspected death related to the use of AASs. There are several occasions to apply this workflow, for example in cases of death of bodybuilders and of young people who die in gymnasiums or during sports activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massimiliano Esposito
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia”, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy; (M.E.); (G.L.); (F.P.); (S.I.); (A.L.)
| | - Gabriele Licciardello
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia”, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy; (M.E.); (G.L.); (F.P.); (S.I.); (A.L.)
| | - Federico Privitera
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia”, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy; (M.E.); (G.L.); (F.P.); (S.I.); (A.L.)
| | - Salvatore Iannuzzi
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia”, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy; (M.E.); (G.L.); (F.P.); (S.I.); (A.L.)
| | - Aldo Liberto
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia”, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy; (M.E.); (G.L.); (F.P.); (S.I.); (A.L.)
| | - Francesco Sessa
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, Italy
- Correspondence: (F.S.); (M.S.); Tel.: +39-0881-736-926 (F.S.); +39-0953-782-060 (M.S.)
| | - Monica Salerno
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies “G.F. Ingrassia”, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy; (M.E.); (G.L.); (F.P.); (S.I.); (A.L.)
- Correspondence: (F.S.); (M.S.); Tel.: +39-0881-736-926 (F.S.); +39-0953-782-060 (M.S.)
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