Factor V G1691A (Leiden) (FVL) is an autosomal dominant mutation that causes activated protein C (APC) resistance, which results in hypercoagulation disorders [1]. The mutation is unevenly distributed, ranging from non-existent in Africa, America, Asia, and Australia, to an incidence as high as 15% in some regions of Europe [2,3]. Kazakhs emerged as a unique ethno-linguistic group during the 13th century AD [4], after invading the region that is now modern Kazakhstan. At that time, many tribes of Turkish and Mongolian origin inhabited the region [4,5]. The Kazakh ethnic identity, which was distinguishable by its distinctive Kipchak Turkish dialect, emerged in this complex sociocultural environment [4]; however, the Kazakhs did not form a unified Khanate like other Turkishspeaking groups. Instead, during the 15th and 16th centuries they subdivided into 3 major tribal confederations: the Greater, Middle, and Lesser (Hordes) [4,6]. This division likely occurred via already existing tribal lines, and marked a political, as well as geographical split. The frequency of FVL in Europe is 3%-10%. It is rare in East and Southeast Asia, occurs with a 12% frequency in such neighboring countries as Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan [7-9], and has a frequency of 3.1% in western Iran [10]. The best of my knowledge the frequency of FVL in the Kazakh population has not been reported. The present study included 69 healthy Kazakh individuals. All the participants provided informed consent. Blood samples were collected into EDTA-containing tubes and then DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes. FVL analysis was performed via realtime PCR (RT-PCR), as previously described [11]. In all, 3 (4.3%) of the 69 participants were heterozygous for FVL and the frequency of FVL was 0.02% among the Kazakh population. The data obtained show that the frequency of FVL in Kazakhs is similar to that in the general Caucasian population.
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Open Access
Jan 1, 2012
Talip Doğan 
