Sex determination from dental pulp DNA among Egyptians

Abstract

Background: A great challenge arises when sex determination of human remains is needed, especially when only, bone fragments or isolated teeth are available; such as in mass disasters. Thus, the aim of the present work is to extract and analyze the DNA from dental pulp for sex determination of a sample of Egyptian population using the polymerase chain reaction amplification of DYS14 and SRY genes. Materials and methods: DNA was extracted from the dental pulp of forty freshly extracted teeth (sound and carious) collected from adult Egyptians of both sexes using QIAamp® DNA Investigator Kit. Androgen Receptor gene was PCR amplified as an internal positive control. DYS14 and SRY genes were PCR amplified for sex determination. Results: DNA extraction was confirmed by detection of the amplified AR gene band (292 bp) in all samples. Sex was successfully determined for all the studied teeth as revealed by amplification of 158 bp band, 778 bp band of the DYS14 and SRY genes respectively. Conclusion: DYS14 and SRY genes were found to be reliable for dental sex determination regardless of the condition of teeth, whether sound or carious.