The serotonin 2C (HTR2C) receptor has been implicated in suicide-related behaviours, however there are not many studies to date about HTR2C and suicidality. We studied HTR2C haplotypes in suicide attempters, where our sample composed of 306 families with at least one member affected by bipolar disorder. HTR2C (Cys23Ser and a common STR in the promoter) variants were analyzed with respect to attempter status and the severity of suicidal behaviour. The X-linked haplotype analysis in relation to suicide attempt did not reveal any significant association. Furthermore, we performed a particular gene-gene interaction for the X-linked serotonergic genes (HTR2C and MAOA), and found no association among this intergenic haplotype combination and suicidal behaviour in bipolar disorder.
A total of 1075 Russians from the Russian part of Karelia were genotyped at high-resolution for the human leukocyte antigen loci HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, -DQB1, and -DPB1 using next generation sequencing methods. The haplotypic and allelic profiles as well as Hardy-Weinberg proportions of this population sample were evaluated. As the most frequent 6-locus haplotype, A*03:01?g?~?B*07:02?g?~?C*07:02?g?~?DRB1*15:01?g?~?DQB1*06:02?g?~?DPB1*04:01?g was identified with an estimated frequency of 3.5%. No deviation from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium was detected at any of the loci studied. The HLA genotypic data of the population sample reported here are available publicly in the Allele Frequencies Net Database under the population name "Russia Karelia" and the identifier AFN3430.
Haplotype analysis of the low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) gene was performed in Norwegian subjects heterozygous for familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA, using an exon 18 specific probe and the restriction enzyme NcoI, showed that two out of 57 unrelated FH subjects had an abnormal 3.6 kb band. Further analyses revealed that this abnormal band was due to a 9.6 kb deletion that included exons 16 and 17. The 5' deletion breakpoint was after 245 bp of intron 15, and the 3' deletion breakpoint was in exon 18 after nucleotide 3390 of cDNA. Thus, both the membrane-spanning and cytoplasmatic domains of the receptor had been deleted. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was developed to identify this deletion among other Norwegian FH subjects. As a result of this screening one additional subject was found out of 124 subjects screened. Thus, three out of 181 (1.7%) unrelated Norwegian FH subject possessed this deletion. The deletion was found on the same haplotype in the three unrelated subjects, suggesting a common mutagenic event. The deletion is identical to a deletion (FH-Helsinki) that is very common among Finnish FH subjects. However, it is not yet known whether the mutations evolved separately in the two countries.
Since beta2-adrenergic receptors are important regulators of blood pressure, genetic variation in this receptor could explain risk of elevated blood pressure in selected individuals. We tested the hypothesis that Gly16Arg, Gln27Glu, and Thr164Ile in the beta2-adrenergic receptor gene associated with elevated blood pressure.
We genotyped 9185 individuals from the adult Danish general population.
Allele frequencies of 16Arg, 27Glu, and 164Ile were 0.38, 0.44, and 0.01, respectively. Among women never treated with antihypertensive medication those heterozygous for Thr164Ile versus non-carriers had increased diastolic blood pressure (P=0.02). Women heterozygous for Thr164Ile versus non-carriers had an odds ratio for elevated blood pressure of 1.93 (95% CI: 1.30-2.86). Finally, women double heterozygous for Thr164Ile and Gln27Glu or Gly16Arg versus non-carriers at all 3 loci had an odds ratio for elevated blood pressure of 2.49 (1.28-4.85) or 3.19 (1.46-6.97). In men, blood pressure was not influenced by this genetic variation.
In women Thr164Ile heterozygosity is associated with increased diastolic blood pressure, and represent a risk factor for elevated blood pressure in women in the general population. This was most pronounced in those women also heterozygous for Gln27Glu or Gly16Arg.
Uncertainty exists whether the 4154delA mutation of the BRCA1 gene detected in unrelated individuals from Latvia, Poland and Russia is a founder mutation with a common ancestral origin. To trace back this problem we analysed the mutation-associated haplotype of the BRCA1 intragenic SNPs as well as intragenic and nearby STR markers in mutation carriers from the aforementioned populations. The mutation-associated SNP alleles were found to be "T-A-A-A-A-G" for six intragenic SNPs of the BRCA1 gene (IVS8-58delT, 3232A/G, 3667A/G, IVS16-68A/G, IVS16-92A/G, IVS18+66G/A, respectively). The alleles 195, 154, 210 and 181 were found to be associated with the 4154delA mutation for STR markers D17S1325, D17S855, D17S1328 and D17S1320, correspondingly. Further analysis of markers in the 4154delA mutation carriers from all three populations allows us to assert that all analysed mutation carriers share a common ancestry.
ABCB1 haplotypes were determined in 534 healthy Finnish volunteers, of whom 24 participated in a pharmacokinetic study on simvastatin and atorvastatin. The frequencies of occurrence of haplotypes c.1236T-c.2677T-c.3435T and c.1236C-c.2677G-c.3435C were 42.7 and 34.4%, respectively. The simvastatin acid AUC(0-12h) was 60% larger, the atorvastatin AUC(0-infinity) 55% larger, and the atorvastatin half-life 24% longer in subjects with the ABCB1 TTT/TTT genotype (n = 12) than in those with the CGC/CGC genotype (n = 12) (P
The results of the first Russian study of polymorphisms of tuberculosis (TB) susceptibility genes SLC11A1, VDR, IL12B, IL1B, IL1RN in Tuvinians from Tuva Republic and Russians from Tomsk city are presented. In Tuvinians, as compared with Russians, the significantly higher prevalence of potentially disease-associated alleles of the genes studied was shown: SLC11A1*543N (0.139 and 0.043, respectively, p = 4.6E-5), IL12B*1188C (0.378 and 0.174, respectively, p = 1.1E-8), VDR*b (0.825 and 0.532, respectively, p = 3.2E-16), IL1B*(+3953A1) (0.865 and 0.806, respectively, p = 0.035). However, no one of these alleles was associated with TB in Tuvinians, whereas, in Russians TB patients, in comparison with the controls, there was a higher prevalence of the following markers: IL1RN*A2 (0.258 and 0.186, respectively, p = 0.024), SLC11A1*274T (0.251 and 0.164, respectively, p = 0.009), IL12B*1188C (0.240 and 0.174, respectively, p = 0.044), ILIB*(+3953A2) (0.259 and 0.194, respectively, p = 0.044). Distinct patterns of linkage disequilibrium between pairs of the polymorphisms studied in Tuvinians and Russians were shown. At whole, the data obtained demonstrate the ethnic specificity of the distribution and pathogenetic significance of the alleles of the TB susceptibility genes.
The activity of the pituitary-gonadal axis (PG axis) in pre-migratory and homing chum salmon was examined because endocrine mechanisms underlying the onset of spawning migration remain unknown. Pre-migratory fish were caught in the central Bering Sea in June, July and September 2001, 2002 and 2003, and in the Gulf of Alaska in February 2006. They were classified into immature and maturing adults on the basis of gonadal development. The maturing adults commenced spawning migration to coastal areas by the end of summer, because almost all fish in the Bering Sea were immature in September. In the pituitaries of maturing adults, the copy numbers of FSHbeta mRNA and the FSH content were 2.5- to 100-fold those of the immature fish. Similarly, the amounts of LHbeta mRNA and LH content in the maturing adults were 100- to 1000-fold those of immature fish. The plasma levels of testosterone, 11-ketotestosterone and estradiol were higher than 10 nmol l(-1) in maturing adults, but lower than 1.0 nmol l(-1) in immature fish. The increase in the activity of the PG-axis components had already initiated in the maturing adults while they were still in the Gulf of Alaska in winter. In the homing adults, the pituitary contents and the plasma levels of gonadotropins and plasma sex steroid hormones peaked during upstream migration from the coast to the natal hatchery. The present results thus indicate that the seasonal increase in the activity of the PG axis is an important endocrine event that is inseparable from initiation of spawning migration of chum salmon.
Department of Medical Sciences, Eastern Piedmont University and I.R.C.A.D. (Interdisciplinary Research Center on Autoimmune Diseases), Novara, Italy. bolognes@med.unipmn.it
Although HLA-DQ genes are the major celiac disease (CD) susceptibility genes, results from Finnish families suggest that not all DQ2-encoding haplotypes confer equal susceptibility to CD, implying the effect of other gene(s) in the HLA region. The aim of the present work was to extend and confirm the aforementioned results in a southern European population ( Italian) and to better localize the additional risk factor/s. The association of nine loci spanning the HLA region from DR to HFE, 4.5-Mb telomeric of HLA-A, was tested. The analysis was performed by comparing marker frequencies in DR3-DQ2 haplotypes transmitted and non-transmitted to the affected offspring in 156 Italian CD families selected for having at least one DR3-positive parent. The same analysis was performed independently in 101 Finnish CD families selected with the same criteria. Three alleles, MICA-A5.1, MICB-CA24 and MIB-350, all characteristic of the B8-DR3 extended haplotype, showed a significantly increased frequency in DR3 transmitted haplotypes in the Italian families. DR3 haplotypes carrying the combination of these alleles conferred an approximate fourfold increased CD risk. B8-DR3 transmitted haplotypes were significantly more conserved telomerically down to the MIC-Class I region. Similar results were seen in the Finnish families. The major conclusion that holds true in both populations is that, while DQ2 is an absolute requirement for the development of CD, the presence of an additional genetic factor within the MIC-Class I region confers an approximate 4-fold increased risk of the disease.
Primary Sj?gren's syndrome (SS) shares many features with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Here we investigated the association of the three major polymorphisms in IRF5 and STAT4 found to be associated with SLE, in patients from Sweden and Norway with primary SS. These polymorphisms are a 5-bp CGGGG indel in the promoter of IRF5, the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs10488631 downstream of IRF5 and the STAT4 SNP rs7582694, which tags the major risk haplotype of STAT4. We observed strong signals for association between all three polymorphisms and primary SS, with odds ratios (ORs) >1.4 and P-values
