A study on salivary hemagglutinins in a Central Indian population

Abstract

Purpose: To study the presence of salivary hemagglutinins in a Central Indian Population. Method: A drop of supernatant of centrifuged saliva samples was placed in cavity tiles. A drop of 0.2% cell suspensions of twice washed cells of known A and B blood groups was added into the respectively marked cavities. After mixing, the tiles were kept in a moist chamber for 30 min and examined microscopically. Clumps formed of at least 3–4 cells were taken as positive. Result: A sensitive method for the detection of anti-A and anti-B hemagglutinins in fresh saliva has been developed. Presence of salivary hemagglutinins in Maharashtrians was quite high, i.e., 69.41% as compared with Gonds 17% (Chatterjee and Badiye, 2012) and the Punjabis 35.98% (Chattopadhyay and Ganeson, 1983). Conclusion: Saliva in the form of stains is encountered as physical evidence in many cases, such as anonymous letters, secret writing, sexual assault, rape, murder, disputed paternity, cigarette butt ends, etc. If analyzed properly saliva can not only help in the elimination of the innocents, but also in the actual identification of a specific individual. Like blood grouping, this can also be used for forensic purposes.

Keywords

• Salivary grouping
• Hemagglutinins in saliva
• Forensic serology
• Saliva
• Forensic biology