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Dørum G, Hänggi NV, Burri D, Marti Y, Banemann R, Kulstein G, Courts C, Gosch A, Hadrys T, Haas C, Neubauer J. Selecting mRNA markers in blood for age estimation of the donor of a biological stain. Forensic Sci Int Genet 2024; 68:102976. [PMID: 38000161 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2023.102976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Revised: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/04/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023]
Abstract
RNA has gained a substantial amount of attention within the forensic field over the last decade. There is evidence that RNAs are differentially expressed with biological age. Since RNA can be co-extracted with DNA from the same piece of evidence, RNA-based analysis appears as a promising molecular alternative for predicting the biological age and hence inferring the chronological age of a person. Using RNA-Seq data we searched for markers in blood potentially associated with age. We used our own RNA-Seq data from dried blood stains as well as publicly available RNA-Seq data from whole blood, and compared two different approaches to select candidate markers. The first approach focused on individual gene analysis with DESeq2 to select the genes most correlated with age, while the second approach employed lasso regression to select a set of genes for optimal prediction of age. We present two lists with 270 candidate markers, one for each approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guro Dørum
- Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Dario Burri
- Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Yael Marti
- Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Cornelius Courts
- University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Legal Medicine, Cologne, Germany
| | - Annica Gosch
- University Hospital of Cologne, Institute of Legal Medicine, Cologne, Germany
| | - Thorsten Hadrys
- Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (BLKA), Munich, Germany
| | - Cordula Haas
- Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Jacqueline Neubauer
- Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Hänggi NV, Bleka Ø, Haas C, Fonneløp AE. Quantitative PCR analysis of bloodstains of different ages. Forensic Sci Int 2023; 350:111785. [PMID: 37527614 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Revised: 05/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/15/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023]
Abstract
An accurate method to estimate the age of a stain or the time since deposition (TsD) would represent an important tool in police investigations for evaluating the true relevance of a stain. In this study, two laboratories reproduced an mRNA-based method for TsD estimation published by another group. The qPCR-based assay includes four transcripts (B2M, LGALS2, CLC, and S100A12) and showed preferential degradation of the 5' end over the 3' end. In this study, the blood-specific marker ALAS2 was added to examine whether it would show the same degradation pattern. Based on our qPCR data several elastic net models with different penalty combinations were created, using training data from the two laboratories separately and combined. Each model was then used to estimate the age of bloodstains from two independent test sets each laboratory had prepared. The elastic net model built on both datasets with training samples up to 320 days old displayed the best prediction performance across all test samples (MAD=18.9 days). There was a substantial difference in the prediction performance for the two laboratories: Restricting TsD to up to 100 days for test data, one laboratory obtained an MAD of 2.0 days when trained on its own data, whereas the other laboratory obtained an MAD of 15 days.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Øyvind Bleka
- Department of Forensic Sciences, Oslo University Hospital, Norway
| | - Cordula Haas
- Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Ane Elida Fonneløp
- Department of Forensic Sciences, Oslo University Hospital, Norway; Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Norway
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Willi S, Lüthold R, Hunt A, Hänggi NV, Sejdiu D, Scaff C, Bender N, Staub K, Schlagenhauf P. COVID-19 sequelae in adults aged less than 50 years: A systematic review. Travel Med Infect Dis 2021; 40:101995. [PMID: 33631340 PMCID: PMC7898978 DOI: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2021.101995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2020] [Revised: 02/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is emerging evidence of long-term sequelae in a considerable proportion of COVID-19 patients after recovery and the spectrum and severity of such sequelae should be systematically reviewed. This review aims to evaluate the available evidence of all intermediate and long-term COVID-19 sequelae affecting formerly healthy adults. METHODS A systematic literature search of Embase, WHO, Scopus, Pubmed, Litcovid, bioRxiv and medRxiv was conducted with a cutoff date of the 17th September 2020 according to PRISMA guidelines and registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020208725). Search terms included "COVID-19", "coronavirus disease 2019", "SARS-CoV-2", "sequelae" and "consequence*". Publications on adult participants, with a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were included. Elderly (>50 years old) and children (<18 years old) were excluded. Bias assessment was performed using a modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. RESULTS A total of 31 papers were included. Study types included prospective and retrospective cohort studies, cross-sectional studies and case reports. Sequelae persistence since infection spanned 14 days to three months. Sequelae included persistent fatigue (39-73% of assessed persons), breathlessness (39-74%), decrease in quality of life (44-69%), impaired pulmonary function, abnormal CT findings including pulmonary fibrosis (39-83%), evidence of peri-/perimyo-/myocarditis (3-26%), changes in microstructural and functional brain integrity with persistent neurological symptoms (55%), increased incidence of psychiatric diagnoses (5.8% versus 2.5-3.4% in controls), incomplete recovery of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction (33-36% of evaluated persons). CONCLUSIONS A variety of organ systems are affected by COVID-19 in the intermediate and longer-term after recovery. Main sequelae include post-infectious fatigue, persistent reduced lung function and carditis. Careful follow-up post COVID 19 is indicated to assess and mitigate possible organ damage and preserve life quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Willi
- University of Zurich, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, WHO Collaborating Centre for Travel Medicine, Competence Centre for Military Medicine and Biology, Hirschengraben 84, 8001, Zurich, Switzerland; Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Renata Lüthold
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Adam Hunt
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Nadescha Viviane Hänggi
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Donikë Sejdiu
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Camila Scaff
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Nicole Bender
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Kaspar Staub
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland; Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology (ZIHP), University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Patricia Schlagenhauf
- University of Zurich, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, WHO Collaborating Centre for Travel Medicine, Competence Centre for Military Medicine and Biology, Hirschengraben 84, 8001, Zurich, Switzerland
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