The Identification of HLA-A2 and HLA-B5 Antigens in Dried Bloodstains

Abstract

Interest in various leucocyte antigens has rapidly grown since it was discovered that some are particularly important in connection with organ transplants. The two systems of major importance in human transplantation immunology are the HLA and ABO systems. The HLA polymorphism in man must be regarded as one of the most complicated and figures generally quoted in the literature indicate that there are at least seven million phenotypes involved. Thus the chance of finding two unrelated individuals with identical HLA types is extremely small. Numerous workers have demonstrated that the HLA system has a high potential in paternity research but only a limited amount of work has been done to assess its potential for use in other forensic matters. This report describes a feasibility study into the use of the HLA system for the characterization of human bloodstains. The results of tests for the HLA-A2 and HLA-B5 antigens in one hundred and thirteen dried bloodstains of varying age are discussed.