Pfeiffer H, Mörnstad H, Teivens A
Institute for Forensic Medicine, Klinik der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena, Germany.
Int J Legal Med. 1995;108(1):19-23. doi: 10.1007/BF01845611.
Determinations of chronologic age are of great importance in forensic science. At present the aspartic acid racemization method on teeth provides one of the best means in adult individuals. However, if teeth are not available, some other stable tissue has to be used. In this study, the applicability of cartilage from the ribs has been tested. Specimens of rib cartilage were obtained at autopsy from 24 individuals aged 0.2-96 years. An acid-soluble peptide (SP) fraction and an insoluble collagen-rich (IC) fraction were prepared, and the ratio of D/L aspartic acid was determined using the HPLC technique. The correlation coefficient between the D/L ratio and age was r = 0.91 in SP and r = 0.97 in IC. It thus seems as if cartilage from non-weight-bearing areas may be a useful source of tissue for the estimation of chronologic age with the aspartic acid racemization method when teeth are not available.
测定实足年龄在法医学中极为重要。目前，牙齿上的天冬氨酸消旋化方法是成年个体中最佳方法之一。然而，如果没有牙齿可用，则必须使用其他一些稳定的组织。在本研究中，对肋骨软骨的适用性进行了测试。在尸检时从24名年龄在0.2至96岁的个体获取肋骨软骨标本。制备了酸溶性肽（SP）组分和富含不溶性胶原蛋白（IC）的组分，并使用高效液相色谱技术测定D/L天冬氨酸的比率。在SP中，D/L比率与年龄之间的相关系数r = 0.91，在IC中r = 0.97。因此，当没有牙齿可用时，似乎来自非负重部位的软骨可能是用天冬氨酸消旋化方法估算实足年龄的有用组织来源。
