title: Age estimation by racemization method in teeth: application of aspartic acid, glutamate, and alanine.
abstract: Here, we report on an experimental approach of simultaneous determination of various amino acids racemization (AAR) rates in teeth. We evaluated the measurements of aspartic acid (Asp), glutamate (Glu), and alanine (Ala) isolated from dentin. Asx D/L rates from total amino acid fraction, generally used for age estimation, showed high correlation (r = 0.98) with age. As Glx and Ala showed very slow racemization kinetics in TA, we performed further analysis of the acid-soluble protein (SP) fraction. The results supported improved correlation between age and D/L rates for Glu (r = 0.84) and Ala (r = 0.85), as well as for Asp (r = 0.98). By providing further elucidation on dentin protein racemization, the technique offers a considerable opportunity to involve other amino acids in age estimation studies. As the process does not require additional separation steps, the method can be easily adapted to existing protocols.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Akita University School of Medicine, Akita, Japan. aszilvia@med.akita-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Szilvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arany
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohtani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000366:Age Determination by Teeth / Q000379:methods*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000409:Alanine / Q000032:analysis*; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000032:analysis*; D001641:Bicuspid / Q000737:chemistry; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D003804:Dentin / Q000737:chemistry*; D005410:Flame Ionization; D005553:Forensic Dentistry / Q000379:methods; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D000409:Alanine