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Abstract
Background. Mass fatality incidents in Metropolitan Manila expose human remains to damage that defeats friction ridge analysis and antemortem dental comparison. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is present in high copy number and is maternally transmitted, so it remains informative as a lineage marker when nuclear DNA is degraded.
Objective. To quantify control-region amplification performance and maternal concordance of dental pulp mtDNA in urban disaster victim identification (DVI).
Methods. In this cross-sectional casework series conducted under Interpol DVI standards, 100 unidentified victims and 200 living maternal relatives were examined across Metropolitan Manila. Pulp was recovered by coronal sectioning or cryogenic pulverisation. Hypervariable regions 1 and 2 were amplified as reduced-size amplicons and sequenced bidirectionally against the revised Cambridge Reference Sequence. Haplogroups were assigned, and likelihood ratios were calculated using EMPOP reference data.
Results. HV1 amplified in 95.0% of victim teeth (95/100; 95% CI 88.7–98.4) and HV2 in 94.0%; 97.5% of reference kin amplified. Complete bidirectional consensus was obtained in 90.0% (90/100) and 90.0% (180/200), respectively. Molars reached complete resolution more often than anterior teeth (93.8%, 61/65 versus 73.3%, 11/15; Fisher’s exact p = 0.037). Mandibular molars yielded approximately 4.5 times as many mtDNA copies as incisors ((8.65 ± 1.94) × 104 versus (1.92 ± 0.64) × 104 copies/μL; p < 0.001). All 90 sequenced victims showed complete maternal concordance, with likelihood ratios from 1.2 × 105 to 8.4 × 106. Molar class, intact coronal chamber and postmortem interval ≤ 14 days were associated with complete recovery.
Conclusion. Dental pulp mtDNA sequencing is a resilient lineage-based modality supporting identification within a reconciled multidisciplinary DVI process; recovery rates are conditional on the stated eligibility criteria.
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