Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) HLA - DQ α Allele Frequency Distribution in Various Sects of South Indian Population

Abstract

Blood samples from 495 South Indian individuals (420 Hindu, 56 Muslim, and 19 Christian) were collected and subjected to HLA-DQ α typing using the polymerase chain reaction. (Blood was collected in clot tubes and deposited directly on cotton swatches, dried at room temperature and packaged in paper envelopes and stored at -20° C until typing.) DNA typing was performed according to the FBI protocol using Cetus AmpliType kits and a Perkin Elmer Cetus thermocycler. All the 21 genotypes were observed in the Hindu population group, but because of the small sample size, some of the genotypes were not observed in the other two groups. The observed genotype frequencies for the Hindu population did not follow Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. There was an apparent excess of homozygotes, probably due to consanguinity in this population. The Muslim and Christian population samples were too small for statistical analysis. Unlike other population groups that have been genotyped at the DQ α locus by the FBI and by Cetus Corporation (1991), Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium cannot be used to calculate the expected genotype frequencies in the South Indian Hindu population.