title: Susceptibility to primary angle closure glaucoma in Saudi Arabia: the possible role of mitochondrial DNA ancestry informative haplogroups.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In a previous preliminary analysis we reported that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup R0a was significantly more frequent in primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) Saudi patients than in healthy Saudi controls. This result prompted us to extend our work using a significant larger Saudi PACG cohort and more healthy controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  We sequenced the mtDNA regulatory hypervariable region-I (HVS-I) and coding regions, comprising haplogroup diagnostic polymorphisms, in 227 PACG Saudi patients and compared their haplogroup frequencies with those obtained from 186 matched healthy controls (free of PACG by examination) and from a large sample of 810 healthy Saudi Arabs representing the general Saudi population.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MtDNA Haplogroups R0a and J, the most abundant lineages in Saudi Arabia, were in significant higher frequencies in the PACG patients than in controls, while the widespread western Eurasian haplogroup U was associated with reduced risk to developing PACG.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Haplogroups R0a and J could be ancestry informative markers for PACG in the Saudi Arabian population. In addition, the western Eurasian haplogroup U may play a mild protective effect to this illness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. abuamero@gmail.com
authors.forename: Khaled K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Abu-Amero
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: Essam A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Osman
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Larruga
authors.forename: Vicente M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Cabrera
authors.forename: Saleh A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Al-Obeidan
mesh_terms: D018912:Arabs; D044383:Black People; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005820:Genetic Testing; D015812:Glaucoma, Angle-Closure / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics*; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial