Department of Dental Diagnostic Science & Oral Biology King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2024 Jun 7;103(23):e38401. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000038401.
Gender identification plays a pivotal role in forensic medicine. Among the various methods used for gender identification, deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) based methods are considered accurate. Exfoliated oral mucosal cells that are harvested from oral hygiene aids can be potentially used for gender identification using real-time polymerase chain rection (PCR). The aim of the present longitudinal study is to assess and compare the efficacy of toothbrush and miswak as potential tools to harvest exfoliated cells for gender identification. Forty healthy volunteers were recruited and asked to clean their teeth using new toothbrush and fresh miswak each day for 4 days. Toothbrush and miswak used by the participants were subjected to DNA analysis immediately, 1st, 2nd and 6th month. The absorbance of DNA samples were quantified and gender identification was done by amplification of sex determining gene-Sex determining region Y gene (SRY) and ALT1 genes using real-time PCR. The number of correct and positive identification for samples at various time points were tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis. Post hoc power analysis showed that the study had a power of 93%. Correct and positive gender identification was observed for the samples (100%) obtained using miswak, for tooth brush it reduced to 95%, 80%, and 35% at the end of 1st, 2nd, and 6th month. The differences seen at the end of 2nd month and 6th month were statistically significant. Miswak is a better tool to harvest exfoliated cells for gender identification when compared to a toothbrush. Hence, miswak can serve as a potential tool in forensic medicine for DNA extraction and subsequently victim identification.
性别鉴定在法医学中起着至关重要的作用。在用于性别鉴定的各种方法中，基于脱氧核糖核酸（DNA）的方法被认为是准确的。从口腔卫生用品中采集的脱落口腔黏膜细胞可用于使用实时聚合酶链反应（PCR）进行性别鉴定。本纵向研究的目的是评估和比较牙刷和miswak作为采集脱落细胞进行性别鉴定的潜在工具的功效。招募了 40 名健康志愿者，并要求他们每天使用新牙刷和新鲜的 miswak 清洁牙齿 4 天。参与者使用的牙刷和 miswak 立即进行 DNA 分析，并在第 1、2 和 6 个月进行分析。定量 DNA 样本的吸光度，并通过实时 PCR 扩增性别决定基因-SRY 和 ALT1 基因进行性别鉴定。记录各个时间点样本的正确和阳性鉴定数量，并进行统计分析。事后功效分析表明，该研究的功效为 93%。使用 miswak 获得的样本（100%）进行正确和阳性性别鉴定，对于牙刷，在第 1、2 和 6 个月结束时，正确和阳性鉴定的比例分别降低到 95%、80%和 35%。第 2 个月和第 6 个月结束时的差异具有统计学意义。与牙刷相比，miswak 是采集脱落细胞进行性别鉴定的更好工具。因此，miswak 可以作为法医中用于 DNA 提取和随后识别受害者的潜在工具。
