Immunohistochemical Staining of Semenogelin I and GPx4 Reactivities in Vaginal Swab and Biopsy Series in Rats

Objective

Detection of seminal biomarkers in vaginal secretions is objective forensic evidence that the female genital tract is exposed to semen in sexual assault cases. There is no study to verify the presence of GPx4 in semen in sexual assault or abuse cases and to use it as a biomarker. The aim of this study was to determine whether the GPx4 enzyme is one of the enzymes that can be used in sexual assault cases in futures.

Method

In our study, 24 female rats were used, and the rats were randomly divided into three groups. It was examined whether there was GPx4 and semenogelin-I expression in cervicovaginal swab and biopsy samples. All samples were tested in immunohistochemical staining, and semi-quantitative analysis of the samples was performed.

Results

In Group A rats, weak expression of GPx4 was found in the vaginal mucus and layers. It was observed that GPx4 was necessary for the proliferation of all layers of the vagina, especially epithelial cells. Expression of semenogelin-I was found to be strong even in 48th hour in group B and C rats. Expression of GPx4 in Group C rats was higher than semenogelin-I.

Conclusion

One of the important results obtained from our study is that GPx4 enzyme, which is one of the valuable enzymes in terms of viability of sperm and which can use to infertility clinic in case of deficiency, is one of the enzymes that can be used for detection in sexual assault cases.