ABO blood grouping of bloodstains by sandwich ELISA using monoclonal antibody specific for human red cell band 3.

ABO blood grouping of human bloodstains was performed by a sandwich ELISA using a species-specific monoclonal antibody to the amino-terminal cytoplasmic domain of human red cell membrane band 3. In a blind trial, all A, B and O bloodstains (a 1 cm long thread) and AB bloodstains (a 1.5 cm long thread) were accurately typed by this method. Even when bloodstains were contaminated by other body fluids (e.g., semen and saliva), only the ABO blood group epitopes on band 3 of the red cell membrane were detected. Thus, identification of human blood and ABO blood grouping of bloodstains which were contaminated by other body fluids could be simultaneously performed by this method.