Gender Determination Using Peripheral Blood Smear

Background: Sex chromatin is a chromatin mass of 1 micron size usually seen at the periphery of nucleus infemales. The term sex chromatin comprises of two superficially dissimilar structures known as Barr body inepithelial cells, other tissue cells and as Drumstick appearance in polymorphonuclear leucocytes. Aim of thestudy is gender determination by drumstick appearance of neutrophils using Leishman’s stain and Field stain.Materials and Methods: The present study included 60 individuals ranging from 20-50 age group of both thesexes to observe the morphology of sex chromatin in neutrophil by using Leishman’s and Field stain for thegender determination and comparison between the 2 staining procedure, using research microscope.Results: Presence of drumsticks, sessile nodule and non specific appendages like racket, tag, hook, minor lobe,small club, were found in neutrophils. In males 37% of drumstick, 7% of sessile nodule, 20% of racket structure,3% small club, 13% minor lobe, 7% hook, 3% tag, was seen and in females 10% of drumstick, 60% of sessilenodule, 17% of racket structure, 7% small club, 1% minor lobe, 0% hook, 3% tag, was seen and field’s stainshowed better results in appreciating the morphology of neutrophil.Conclusion: Observation on morphology and comparison between 2 different stain presented a moderate agreementin gender determination.

Sexual Dimorphism in Morphology and Morphometry of Neutrophil Drumsticks.

Introduction: Sex chromatin is a chromatin mass of 1 micron size usually seen at the periphery of nucleus in females. In the literature majority reported its absence inmales while few reported its low incidence inmales. The term ‘sex chromatin’ comprises two superficially dissimilar structures the “Barr body” present in epithelial and other tissue cells and the “Drumstick” of the polymorphonuclear leucocytes. Materials and methods: The present study was conducted to observe the morphology, morphometry and percentage incidence of Drumsticks in the blood neutrophils of 110 individuals ranging from 17-30 age group and both sexes using a calibrated ocular/eye piece micrometer. Results: The percentage incidence of drumsticks including non-specific appendages as well as the total number of true drumsticks in females exceeds that in males. Four different types of nonspecific appendages-sessile nodules, racket structures, minor lobes and small clubs were found in the blood neutrophils along with the drumsticks. A higher percentage of non-specific appendages i.e.minor lobes (46.2%), racket structures (42.3%), and small clubs (11.5%) were observed in males and sessile nodules were found only in females. Conclusion: Observations on morphology, morphometry and percentage incidence of polymorphonuclear drumsticks presented a valuable data on sex differences.

Use of hair root sheath for barr body determination.

Determination of sex is useful in Forensic Medicine. Barr bodies can be seen hair root sheath cells. The presence of barr bodies indicates that sex of the person is female. They are inactive X chromosome. The Barr bodies are also known as sex chromatin. Hair can present in the crime scene. Hair is trace evidence. The stain used was aceto-orcein. The percentage of barr bodies was found to be 28-49 %. The study was carried out for eight months and it was found that barr bodies persisted for eight months. It can be present anywhere at the crime scene. Hair of the accused can be present in hands of victim due to cadaveric spasm. Hair of victim can be found on the clothes of the accused. There is average fall in percentage of barr bodies with the passage of time due to the start of decomposition changes in the root sheath cells.

Sex chromatin in dental pulp: performance of diagnosis test and gold atandard generation / Cromatina sexual en pulpa dental: rendimiento de la prueba diagnóstica y generación del gold standard

The sex chromatin or Barr body is a condensation of chromatin present at the nucleus of cells in female individuals. Their observation is possible in different cell types and is used for the rapid diagnosis of biological sex. The observation of this condensation in cells of the pulp tissue can be useful in the forensic diagnosis of sex, primarily because of the protection it give dental hard tissues, but its diagnostic value has not been tested. The purpose of this study is to analyze the diagnostic value of the observation of sex chromatin in cells of the pulp tissue. We used 40 premolars and third molars 20 from men with a mean age of 20.6 years (SD 8.8) and 20 from women with a mean age of 20.4 years (SD 7.4). The pulp was obtained from teeth extracted and localized 50 cells per plate. The presence of a cell with visible Barr body was considered positive for women. With these results, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of the test. The performance of the test was 100 percent; of the 50 cells observed per plate, mean Barr bodies positive cells was 20.4 (SD 0.44) in female samples. There was no positive cell in preparations of male subjects. The diagnostic test observation of sex chromatin in dental pulp is a reliable test for sex determination. This study provides a gold standard for performance assessment in which the teeth have suffered extreme physical conditions, such as incineration and dumping.

La cromatina sexual o de Barr es una condensación de cromatina presente a nivel del núcleo de las células de individuos de sexo femenino. Su observación es posible en diversos tipos celulares y es utilizado para el diagnóstico rápido del sexo biológico. La observación de esta condensación en células del tejido pulpar puede ser útil en el diagnóstico forense del sexo, principalmente debido a la protección que los tejidos duros dentarios le otorgan, sin embargo su valor diagnóstico no ha sido analizado. El propósito de este estudio es analizar el valor diagnóstico de la observación de la cromatina sexual en células del tejido pulpar. Se utilizaron 40 premolares y terceros molares maxilares, 20 de hombres con una media de edad de 20,6 años (DS 8,8) y 20 de mujeres con una edad media de 20,4 años (DS 7,4). La pulpa fue obtenida a partir de piezas extraídas, se realizó la extirpación pulpar y el tejido fue procesado para H-E. Se seleccionaron aleatoriamente 4 placas histológicas, las cuales fueron observadas de manera sistemática utilizando una microscopia Olimpus CX21 con aumento 100X, localizándose 50 células por placa. La presencia de 1 célula con cromatina sexual visible se consideró positivo para sexo femenino. Con estos resultados se evaluó el rendimiento diagnóstico de la prueba. El rendimiento de la prueba fue del 100 por ciento, de las 50 células observadas por placa, la media de células cromatina sexual positiva fue de 20,4 (DS 0,44) en muestras de sexo femenino. No se observó ninguna célula positiva en preparaciones de sujetos de sexo masculino. La prueba diagnóstica observación de la cromatina sexual en pulpa dentaria es una prueba confiable para la determinación del sexo. Este estudio establece un gold estándar para la evaluación del rendimiento en los que las piezas dentarias han sufrido de condiciones físicas extremas como incineración, inmersión, etc.

Reactivation of inactive X chromosome in buccal smear of carcinoma of breast.

Buccal mucosal smears of 100 female patients of carcinoma of breast were compared with 100 controls matched accordingly. The frequency of Barr bodies was significantly lower in carcinoma of breast patients (menstruating and menopausal women) P < 0.001 when compared with controls indicating reactivation of the inactive X chromosome.