Analysis of the apolipoprotein B gene 3' hypervariable region among nationals of the Abu Dhabi Emirate and comparisons with other populations.
BACKGROUND
Among all the polymorphic markers available to date, a hypervariable region located in the 3' of the human apolipoprotein B gene has been extensively studied in global populations throughout the world.


METHODS
Using a polymerase chain reaction-based assay, we investigated the allele and genotype frequency distributions of the alleles (corresponding to repeats of a 30 base-pair core DNA sequence) of this hypervariable region in a group of 367 unrelated nationals (201 males, 166 females) from the United Arab Emirates.


RESULTS
We found 18 different alleles, ranging from 21 to 55 repeats, making up 51 genotypes that occurred in Hardy-Weinberg proportions and were associated with a heterozygosity index of 80.9%. The allele frequency distribution was different from that of other populations in that it was trimodal, with peaks at 31, 37 and 47 repeats, with corresponding relative frequencies of 16.1%, 25.1% and 6.0%. A four-allele model, which allowed comparisons with other reports, revealed distribution differences with all other ethnic groups except South Asians and Serbs.


CONCLUSIONS
This marker is very informative for the Emirati population, and will be very useful for UAE-specific DNA fingerprinting. It will also be a valuable tool for assessing the role of apolipoprotein B in cardiovascular diseases.
Frossard
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PM
Departments of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University, and Internal Medicine, Tawam Hospital, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates.
Lestringant
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GG