Citation

Suttipasit P, Wongwittayapanich S. J. Forensic Leg. Med. 2018; 54: 102-108.

Affiliation

Department of Forensic Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jflm.2017.12.017

PMID

29413950

Abstract

The presence of semen is generally accepted as evidence in sexual assault cases prosecution. Detection of sperm is confirmation of semen; however, sperm cannot always be detected. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) and semenogelin (Sg) are used as semen biomarkers. We compared the detection rate and persistence of sperm, PSA and Sg over a range of time intervals from the time of assault to specimen collection. The results show that sperm had the longest persistence and highest detection rate. The detection rate of the Sg test was significantly better than that of the PSA test overall, whether the sperm test was negative or positive. In conclusion, the detection of sperm should be the first test executed: if sperm is not detected, the Sg test is more suitable than the PSA test and could be used up to 72 h after assault.

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Forensic evidence; Prostate specific antigen test; Semenogelin test; Sexual assault; Sperm test