Gender Differentiation in Tryptophan Metabolism in Postmortem Cases

Abstract

Tryptophan (TRP) is an essential amino acid and is metabolized via kynurenine and serotonin pathway.
Both pathways are significant role in many diseases and have been studied as biomarkers for differentiate
and clarify in many diseases including forensic works. Metabolism in the body might be affected by
both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. This study aimed to compare postmortem blood level of TRP and its
metabolites in male and female to be applied in gender identification in forensic medicine cases. Blood
samples were collected from male group (n=11) and female group (n=11) and the level of the TRP and
its metabolites were identified by HPLC-DAD. The values of the TRP, metabolites and metabolite ratios
did not different between the groups. While, the value of ratio of picolinic acid/ quinolinic acid different
significantly (p <0.05) among the groups which might be applied for gender identification in postmortem
cases. In conclusion, we found that gender have no effect on the TRP and its metabolites. By the way, the
effect of gender should be expanded sample size and develop to gender identification method.