title: Genetic modulators of sickle cell disease in French Guiana: Markers of the slave trade.
abstract: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the leading genetic disease in French Guiana, reflecting the predominantly African ancestry of the Guianese population. Our purpose was to characterize the genetic modulators of SCD in order to retrace the origin of the population in light of the slave trade.
  
  
  
  We have studied the sickle cell genotype, the βS haplotypes, the alpha and beta thalassemia and the UGT1A1 promoter polymorphisms in 224 Guianese patients with SCD.
  
  
  
  The genotypes of SCD were HbSS 65.6%, HbSC 24.5%, and HbS-beta thalassemia 9.4%. The most frequent βS haplotypes were the Benin haplotype (65.9% of the chromosomes) and the Bantu (20.5%). Alpha thalassemic deletions were present in 37% of the patients and homozygosity for the (TA)7 allele of the UGT1A1 promoter in 21.4%. When the patients' origins were considered, 3 groups, Noir Marron, Haitians and Creoles, displayed distinctive characteristics. The HbSC genotype, the Benin haplotype, and the homozygous UGT1A1 genotype TA7/TA7 were significantly more frequent in Noir Marron. The Haitian patients were characterized by the occurrence of alpha-thalassemia and beta-thalassemia and by a higher prevalence of the Bantu haplotype. In the group of Creole patients, the genotype HbSS was predominant but the other modulators of SCD were associated with intermediate risk.
  
  
  
  The results highlight the genetic diversity of the Guianese population and are concordant with historical data on the slave trade showing a West African origin for Noir Marron and a Central African origin for Haitians, while Guianese Creoles are highly admixed. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 28:811-816, 2016. © 2016Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Laboratory, Centre Hospitalier A. Rosemon, 97306, Cayenne, French Guiana.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Simonnet
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Centre Hospitalier A. Rosemon, Cayenne, French Guiana.|Integrated Center of Sickle Cell Disease, Centre Hospitalier A, Rosemon, Cayenne, French Guiana.
authors.forename: Narcisse
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Elanga
authors.affiliation: Unité de Pathologie Moléculaire du Globule Rouge, Laboratoire de Biochimie et de Biologie Moléculaire, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Joly
authors.affiliation: Integrated Center of Sickle Cell Disease, Centre Hospitalier A, Rosemon, Cayenne, French Guiana.
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vaz
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Investigation Clinique Antilles Guyane INSERM, Centre Hospitalier A. Rosemon, Cayenne, French Guiana.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nacher
mesh_terms: D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000235:genetics*; D063947:Enslavement; D005616:French Guiana; D051456:Gene Flow; D005819:Genetic Markers; D063426:Human Migration; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers