Inheritance pattern of lip prints among Malay population: A pilot study

• We studied the inheritance pattern of lip prints among Malay family members and the distribution of types of lip prints.
• There is positive resemblance in lip print patterns among family member; further studies with larger sample sizes are advised.
• Type I lip print was the most prevalent pattern among the study subjects.

We assessed the resemblance of lip print patterns between parents and biological offspring in families of 31 Malay students as well as the distribution of different types of lip print in the study group. Only a few studies have successfully established the inheritance pattern of lip prints. Such studies can be population specific and need to be conducted in various populations. No such study have been conducted in Malay population in Malaysia, according to our knowledge. Present study was carried out to ascertain whether there is any inherence pattern in lip prints and thereby to investigate the potential role of lip prints in personal identification. We found 58.06% resemblance of lip print patterns between the parents and their biological offspring in our study. The influence of heredity in lip print pattern is still a new concept and there is lack of concrete evidence. The data from our study shows that there is potential influence of inheritance in the lip print patterns among the family members. Further researches involving larger samples size are suggested to derive more reliable and accurate results.The most common lip print pattern among the study group is type I (29.84%) followed by type II (23.12%), type III (22.45%), type I' (13.44%), type IV (9.54%) and type V (1.61%). Racial variations in lip print patterns and their prevalence may serve as an aid in forensic identification and crime scene investigation. The results of this pilot study will help in establishing guidelines for future researches on lip print analysis in Malaysia.ContextLip print patterns are unique and individualistic. However, there are some similarities in basic patterns of lip prints between family members which may be attributed to influence of inheritance.Aims1. To determine the inheritance pattern of lip prints among Malay family members of the student. 2. To identify the distribution of different types of lip prints among Malay population.Settingsand Design: Observational pilot study.Methods and materialLip prints of 124 individuals from 31 families consisting of father, mother and two children were recorded and classified based on Tsuchihashi Classification (1974).Statistical analysis usedStatistical analysis was performed for resemblance pattern among family members (Karl–Pearson Correlation Coefficient) and inter-observer variability (Kappa test).Results58.06% positive resemblance was found between parents and biological offspring. The highest lip print pattern in the study group was type I (29.84%) and the least was type V (1.61%).ConclusionsThere is positive resemblance in lip print patterns among family members which may be attributed to influence of inheritance. However, further studies with larger sample sizes need to be conducted to confirm the results. Type I lip print was the most prevalent pattern among the study subjects.