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Developmental Validation of RSID™‐Saliva: A Lateral Flow Immunochromatographic Strip Test for the Forensic Detection of Saliva
Author(s) -
Old Jennifer B.,
Schweers Brett A.,
Boonlayangoor Pravat W.,
Reich Karl A.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2009.01055.x
Subject(s) - saliva , forensic identification , amylase , chemistry , chromatography , biology , enzyme , biochemistry , genetics
Current methods for forensic identification of saliva generally assay for the enzymatic activity of α‐amylase, an enzyme long associated with human saliva. Here, we describe the R apid S tain ID entification (RSID™‐Saliva), a lateral flow immunochromatographic strip test that uses two antisalivary amylase monoclonal antibodies to detect the presence of salivary amylase, rather than the activity of the enzyme. We demonstrate that RSID™‐Saliva is accurate, reproducible, and highly sensitive for human saliva; RSID™‐Saliva detects less than 1 μL of saliva. The sensitivity of RSID TM ‐Saliva allows investigators to sample a fraction of a questioned stain while retaining the majority for DNA‐STR analysis. We demonstrate that RSID™‐Saliva identifies saliva from a variety of materials (e.g., cans, bottles, envelopes, and cigarette‐butts) and it does not cross‐react with blood, semen, urine, or vaginal fluid. RSID™‐Saliva is a useful forensic test for determining which evidentiary items contain saliva and thus may yield a DNA profile.