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Estimation of chronologic age using the aspartic acid racemization method. II. On human cortical bone

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Abstract

Over the last 20 years a new chemical method, base on the racemization of aspartic acid, has been developed to be used for the estimation of chronologic age in adult individuals. The method has a good accuracy when used on dental enamel, dentine and cartilage. However, in forensic and archeological cases teeth and cartilage are not always available. Since preliminary studies have shown that there are some age-related changes of the D/L aspartic acid ratio also in bone, this study was carried out to further explore if the method could be used for age estimations of bone. Bone samples from 24 individuals, aged 0.2 to 95.6 years were analysed for the D/L ratios with HPLC-technique. Two different fractions of the bone were examined, an acid-soluble peptide fraction and an acid-insoluble collagen-rich fraction. The analyses showed age-related racemizations in both fractions, although of different rates. The correlation coefficients with age were 0.72 in the peptide fraction, and 0.84 in the collagen-rich fraction. It thus seems as if bone maybe used for age estimations when more stable tissues like dentine and cartilage are not available.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Forensic Medicine, Klinik der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Bachstrasse 18, D-07740, Jena, Germany

    H. Pfeiffer

  2. Departments of Forensic Odontology and Forensic Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, POB 4064, S-14104 Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden

    H. Mörnstad

  3. Department of Forensic Odontology, Karolinska Institutet, POB 4064, S-14104 Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden

    A. Teivens

Authors
  1. H. Pfeiffer
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  2. H. Mörnstad
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  3. A. Teivens
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Additional information

This study was supported by grant # B93-241-10277-01 from the Swedish Medical Research Council and from Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst grant # 517 023 502 3

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Pfeiffer, H., Mörnstad, H. & Teivens, A. Estimation of chronologic age using the aspartic acid racemization method. II. On human cortical bone. Int J Leg Med 108, 24–26 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01845612

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01845612

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