Association between Cheiloscopic Patterns and ABO Blood Groups among South Indian Population.

BACKGROUND Human beings have few characteristics that are unique from others. Lip prints are one of such feature. They are not changed throughout the life and are not influenced by injuries, diseases, or environmental changes. According to the various antigen-antibody reactions in the bloodstream, different individuals have specific blood groups. AIM To study the distribution of lip print patterns among individuals with different ABO and Rh blood groups and also to know the relation between their characters and blood groups. MATERIALS AND METHODS In the present study, lip prints were collected randomly from 85 individuals, and their blood group matching was performed. This is to identify the most common lip print type and to know any association between lip print types and blood groups. Tsuchihashi's classification of lip prints was used to compare with the ABO and Rh blood grouping systems. RESULTS It was observed that in individuals with B+, A+, and O- blood groups, predominant pattern was Type IV and individuals having blood group O+ and AB+ common lip print pattern was Type II. CONCLUSION This study showed strong association between lip print patterns and ABO blood groups as some blood groups were not included in statistical analysis; further studies including larger sample are essential to substantiate the results. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE Correlating lip print with blood group helps in identification of the suspects. Along with lip prints, another biological record that remains unchanged throughout the lifetime of a person is the blood group. Determining the blood group of a person from the samples obtained at the site of crime and also recovering lip prints from site can help identify a person.