STR and HLA analysis in paternity testing

Abstract. During the 3-year period, 111 cases of paternity disputes were processed in our laboratory.The analysis was performed on nine STR (TH01, VWA31, FES/FPS, F13A01, SE33, D1S1656,D12S391, D18S535, and D22S683) loci and one VNTR (D1S80) locus. Out of 111 cases, 22 wereexclusions. In all cases, exclusion was confirmed on at least five loci. STR loci that were informativein majority of cases were SE33 and D12S391. The least informative loci were FES/FPS and F13A01.In 21 cases exclusions were also confirmed by HLA class I, while only in 17 cases HLA class IIalleles excluded the alleged father. D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Paternity testing; HLA; STR 1. IntroductionHLA system is the most polymorfic genetic system in human genome so far known andfor that reason it was used in paternity testing for a long time. However, due to thepredominance of certain HLA alleles and linkage disequilibrium, in some cases HLAwasnot informative enough. During the past decade STR loci became a valuable tool inpaternity testing because of their high polymorphism and heterozygosity [1]. The mutationrate of STR loci is higher than that of HLA or some other genetic markers. Combination ofthese two systems offers higher informativeness and also diminishes the possibility of falseexclusion due to mutations.The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the usefulness of these twosystems in cases of paternity dispute.2. Material and methodsOne hundred and eleven triplets (mother, child, and alleged father) were processed inour laboratory during the 3-year period. Nine STR loci (TH01, VWA31, FES/FPS,