title: Interethnic variability in birth weight and genetic background: a study of placental alkaline phosphatase.
abstract: The relationship between human placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) genotype and birth weight is investigated in a sample of white, black and Puerto-Rican new-born infants from New Haven, Connecticut (total 710 subjects). Black and Puerto-Rican infants show a higher incidence of growth retardation and a higher frequency of ALPp*1/*1 genotype as compared to whites. The proportion of newborns with a low birth weight (below the 10th percentile) is lower in infants with ALPp*1/*1 genotype than in those with other PLAP genotypes, especially among non-whites. It is argued that the higher frequency of ALPp*1 allele among non-whites might be, at least in part, a consequence of their adaptation in the past to environmental conditions adverse to optimal intrauterine development.
authors.affiliation: Cattedra di Pediatria Preventiva e Sociale, Dipartimento di Chirurgia, II Universita di Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amante
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Borgiani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gimelfarb
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gloria-Bottini
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D000483:Alleles; D001724:Birth Weight / Q000235:genetics*; D044383:Black People / Q000235:genetics*; D003237:Connecticut / Q000453:epidemiology; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000453:epidemiology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D010920:Placenta / Q000201:enzymology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase