Diversity Among Selected Caste and Tribal Groups of Western India: Origin, HLA and Disease Associations

Abstract

KEYWORDS Caste groups; tribal groups; HLA antigens; disease associations ABSTRACT Indian population is well known for its genetic diversity. Among the numerous endogamous communities, which is restricted very much by custom, marriage and occupation, a compiled analysis of 1742 individuals comprising of different caste and tribes from Maharastra Western India is presented. The sympatrically isolated caste and tribal population of western India with different origins, migration pattern and breeding habits differed significantly in their HLA and also in their HLA allele (Relative risk) prevalence for a number of disease associations. Further the analysis reveal that the caste groups of India cannot be considered as a single panmictic population with reference to genetic characteristics, which may have a clinical relevance in unrelated donor selection for allogenic Bone marrow transplantation and disease associations in India.