NCJ Number
99806
Journal
New England Journal of Medicine Volume: 312 Issue: 6 Dated: (February 7, 1985) Pages: 338-342
Date Published
1985
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article describes an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for semen glycoprotein of prostatic origin, designated as p30, that may prove useful in the identification of semen in vaginal fluid of alleged rape victims.
Abstract
Results of body fluid analyses indicate that the test can detect as little as 3 nanograms per milliliter. Semen from normal and vasectomized men contained high levels of p30 (mean, 1.55 milligram per milliliter of seminal plasma), and urine from men contained low levels (mean, 260 nanogram per milliliter). The antigen could not be detected in body fluids from women, including vaginal fluid and urine, indicating that p30 may be a male-specific antigen. The p30 antigen was detectable in vaginal fluid for a mean period of 27 hours after coitus, as compared with 14 hours for prostatic acid phosphatase. Of 27 vaginal fluid samples from alleged rape victims in which the acid phosphatase test was negative, 7 (26 percent) were unequivocably positive for p30. It is concluded that the p30 antigen offers improved sensitivity and specificity over the acid phosphatase assay for the detection of semen in body fluids likely to be examined in forensic studies. Further, the absence of p30 in all noncoital female fluids suggests that this protein is male-specific and, therefore, a possible candidate for a Y-chromosome gene product. Included are 3 figures, 2 tables, and 28 references. (Author abstract modified).