Comprehensive Examination of Conventional and Innovative Body Fluid Identification Approaches and DNA Profiling of Laundered Blood- and Saliva-Stained Pieces of Cloths
![handle is hein.journals/injlegame132 and id is 67 raw text is: Int J Legal Med (2018) 132:67-81
DOI 10.1007/s00414-017-1691-6
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Comprehensive examination of conventional and innovative body
fluid identification approaches and DNA profiling of laundered
blood- and saliva-stained pieces of cloths
G. Kulstein' P. Wiegand'
Received: 25 July 2017 /Accepted: 12 September 2017 /Published online: 29 September 2017
C Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2017
Abstract Body fluids like blood and saliva are commonly
encountered during investigations of high volume crimes like
homicides. The identification of the cellular origin and the
composition of the trace can link suspects or victims to a
certain crime scene and provide a probative value for criminal
investigations. To erase all traces from the crime scene,
perpetrators often wash away their traces. Characteristically,
items that show exposed stains like blood are commonly
cleaned or laundered to free them from potential visible left-
overs. Mostly, investigators do not delegate the DNA analysis
of laundered items. However, some studies have already
revealed that items can still be used for DNA analysis even
after they have been laundered. Nonetheless, a systematical
evaluation of laundered blood and saliva traces that provides a
comparison of different established and newly developed
methods for body fluid identification (BFI) is still missing.
Herein, we present the results of a comprehensive study of
laundered blood- and saliva-stained pieces of cloths that were
applied to a broad range of methods for BFI including
conventional approaches as well as molecular mRNA profil-
ing. The study included the evaluation of cellular origin as
well as DNA profiling of blood- and saliva-stained (synthetic
fiber and cotton) pieces of cloths, which have been washed at
various washing temperatures for one or multiple times. Our
experiments demonstrate that, while STR profiling seems to
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article
(https://doi.org/i0.1007/s00414-017-1691-6) contains supplementary
material, which is available to authorized users.
G. Kulstein
Galina.Kulstein@uniklinik-ulm.de
Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Ulm,
Albert-Einstein-Allee 23, 89081 Ulm, Germany
be sufficiently sensitive for the individualization of laundered
items, there is a lack of approaches for BFI with the same
sensitivity and specificity allowing to characterize the cellular
origin of challenging, particularly laundered, blood and saliva
samples.
Keywords Body fluid/tissue identification . Forensic RNA
analysis . Messenger RNA . Blood . Saliva . STR profiling
Introduction
Evidence of blood is commonly encountered during investi-
gations and is often involved in cases of homicide, aggravated
assault or sexual assault. Like blood, saliva is highly associat-
ed with serious and major crime, especially sexual assault
cases [1] and burglary. The identification of the cellular origin
of the biological fluid often has probative value for criminal
investigations. In some cases it can be crucial for the outcome
of the whole trial. Currently, the main methods for body fluid
and tissue identification (BFI) are based on chemical tests or
immunological approaches [2, 3] and can be categorized as
presumptive or confirmatory tests depending on whether their
results are likely-but indefinite-or conclusive [4].
Blood, as well as saliva, is a highly complex mixture of
cells, enzymes, proteins, and inorganic substances [2, 5].
Blood comprises a fluid portion, plasma, and a cellular portion
that consists of erythrocytes (red blood cells), leucocytes
(white blood cells), and thrombocytes (platelets). Most of
the common presumptive tests target hemoglobin (hb), a pro-
tein that is enriched in the cytoplasm of the erythrocytes and is
responsible for oxygen transportation from the respiratory
organs to the remaining tissue and organs of the body. Heme
has the ability to catalyze an oxidation-reduction reaction.
Therefore, common presumptive tests, based on this catalytic
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