Genetic studies of African populations: an overview on disease susceptibility and response to vaccines and therapeutics.
Africa is the ultimate source of modern humans and as such harbors more genetic variation than any other continent. For this reason, studies of the patterns of genetic variation in African populations are crucial to understanding how genes affect phenotypic variation, including disease predisposition. In addition, the patterns of extant genetic variation in Africa are important for understanding how genetic variation affects infectious diseases that are a major problem in Africa, such as malaria, tuberculosis, schistosomiasis, and HIV/AIDS. Therefore, elucidating the role that genetic susceptibility to infectious diseases plays is critical to improving the health of people in Africa. It is also of note that recent and ongoing social and cultural changes in sub-Saharan Africa have increased the prevalence of non-communicable diseases that will also require genetic analyses to improve disease prevention and treatment. In this review we give special attention to many of the past and ongoing studies, emphasizing those in Sub-Saharan Africans that address the role of genetic variation in human disease.
Medical Research Council Laboratories, Fajara, The Gambia, West Africa. sirugo.giorgio@fbfrm.it
Giorgio
G
Sirugo
Branwen J
BJ
Hennig
Adebowale A
AA
Adeyemo
Alice
A
Matimba
Melanie J
MJ
Newport
Muntaser E
ME
Ibrahim
Kelli K
KK
Ryckman
Alessandra
A
Tacconelli
Renato
R
Mariani-Costantini
Giuseppe
G
Novelli
Himla
H
Soodyall
Charles N
CN
Rotimi
Raj S
RS
Ramesar
Sarah A
SA
Tishkoff
Scott M
SM
Williams
D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005820:Genetic Testing; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D016233:Immunotherapy, Active; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies