title: The utilization of stable isotope analysis for the estimation of the geographic origins of unidentified cadavers.
abstract: The number of unidentified cadavers is increasing worldwide and the effective methods which reveal their geographic origin are not well known. This study reports on the utilization of δ(18)O, δ(13)C, δ(2)H and δ(15)N ratios gained through stable isotope analysis of urine samples collected from eight locations: Chiba, Japan; Fuzhou, China; and Denpasar, Indonesia in our pilot study with data from healthy volunteers from five further locations from healthy volunteers: Melbourne and Perth, Australia; Qingdao, China; Turku, Finland and Oklahoma, USA. This study posits that the utilization of δ(18)O and δ(2)H is more feasible than δ(13)C and δ(15)N stable isotope ratios in differentiating or estimating the origin of human samples. Secondly, this study demonstrated that the δ(18)O and δ(2)H stable isotope ratios of urine samples from eight locations differed significantly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 602-8566, Japan.
authors.forename: Stuart J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: McLean
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 602-8566, Japan. Electronic address: ikegaya@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikegaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Turku, 20520, Finland.
authors.forename: Pekka J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Saukko
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, 350001, China.
authors.forename: Huang Yung
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Applied Neurobiology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 602-8566, Japan.
authors.forename: Kyoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Applied Neurobiology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 602-8566, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fushiki
mesh_terms: D001208:Asia; D001315:Australia; D002102:Cadaver; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D005060:Europe; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D014481:United States; D014556:Urine / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes
keywords: Geographic origin; Identification; Stable isotope analysis; Urine