The CCR5Δ32 (rs333) polymorphism is not a predisposing factor for severe pandemic influenza in the Brazilian admixed population.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have tried to identify host genetic variants that could explain severe cases and deaths in infection with Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, especially among children and young adults. CCR5 is a chemokine receptor expressed on T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells, which is an important mediator of leukocyte chemotaxis during the immune response. A deletion mutation (Δ32) in this gene interferes with the response of immune cells, impairing viral clearance. We evaluated the CCR5Δ32 polymorphism (rs333) in individuals of the Brazilian admixed population with a diagnosis of Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 infection. METHODS: A total of 330 subjects with a diagnosis of Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, evaluated at health services in the northern and northeastern regions of Brazil between June 2009 and August 2010, were genotyped for the Δ32 deletion (rs333). The cases were classified according to the progression of infection into a group of hospitalized patients (n = 156) and a group of non-hospitalized patients (n = 174). RESULTS: No significant differences in the allele or genotype frequencies of the CCR5Δ32 polymorphism were observed between non-hospitalized and hospitalized patients (p = 0.289 and p = 0.431, respectively). CONCLUSION: The Δ32 deletion in the CCR5 gene is not associated with an unfavorable outcome in patients infected with Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in the Brazilian admixed population.

X-linked insertion/deletion polymorphisms: forensic applications of a 33-markers panel.

Insertion/deletion (INDEL) polymorphisms are diallelic markers with potential characteristics for use in forensics and biological anthropology, including: the simplicity of laboratory analysis, the possibility of genotyping many markers in a single PCR multiplex reaction, as well as analyzing markers with special inheritance types, such as those linked to the X chromosome (X-INDEL). In this work we developed a laboratory analysis methodology using a 33-INDEL marker panel for the X chromosome in a single PCR multiplex reaction, followed by a capillary electrophoresis run. We employed the panel to genotype a sample of 351 individuals of a mixed population from the Brazilian Amazon. The results demonstrate that the measurement of biostatistical parameters for forensic use in this population is compatible with prior estimates from other populations using current X-STR panels.

Assessing individual interethnic admixture and population substructure using a 48-insertion-deletion (INSEL) ancestry-informative marker (AIM) panel.

Estimating the proportions of different ancestries in admixed populations is very important in population genetics studies, and it is particularly important for detecting population substructure effects in case-control association studies. In this work, a set of 48 ancestry-informative insertion-deletion polymorphisms (INDELs) were selected with the goal of efficiently measuring the proportions of three different ancestries (sub-Saharan African, European, and Native American) in mixed populations. All selected markers can be easily analyzed via multiplex PCR and detected with standard capillary electrophoresis. A total of 593 unrelated individuals representative of European, African, and Native American parental populations were typed, as were 380 individuals from three Brazilian populations with known admixture patterns. As expected, the interethnic admixture estimates show that individuals from southern Brazil present an almost exclusively European ancestry; Afro-descendant communities in the Amazon region, apart from the major African contribution, present some degree of admixture with Europeans and Native Americans; and a sample from Belém, in the northeastern Amazon, shows a significant contribution of the three ethnic groups, although with a greater European proportion. In summary, a panel of ancestry-informative INDELs was optimized and proven to be a valuable tool for estimating individual and global ancestry proportions in admixed populations. The ability to accurately infer interethnic admixtures highlights the usefulness of this marker set for assessing population substructure in association studies, particularly those conducted in Brazilian and other Latin American populations sharing trihybrid ancestry patterns.

Autosomal STR analyses in native Amazonian tribes suggest a population structure driven by isolation by distance.

Eleven short tandem repeat loci (CSF1PO, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D21S11, TH01, and TPOX) were investigated in 232 individuals from 6 Amazonian native tribes (Tiriyó, Waiãpi, Zoé, Urubu-Kaapor, Awa-Guajá, and Parakanã). We added the new data to a database that included five previously typed native populations from the same area (Wai Wai, Gavião, Zoró, Suruí, and Xavante). The results presented here concern this new data set, which accounts for 526 individuals in total. We tested whether major geographic or linguistic barriers to gene flow exist among such human groups and tried to find a possible anthropological or ethnological explanation for such patterns. We measured the average heterozygosity (H) and the number of alleles (N(A) ) and found that both are lower than values observed in populations of different ethnic backgrounds, such as European or African descendants. Despite such a result, we found high between-population variation; lower H and/or N(A) values were obtained from four isolated tribes that came into contact with external nonnative populations in recent times (1921-1989). By applying analysis of molecular variance, generalized hierarchical modeling, and the Structure Bayesian analysis, we were not able to detect any significant geographic or linguistic barrier to gene flow. Geographic autocorrelation analysis suggests that the genetic structure of native Amazonian tribes is better explained by isolation by distance because the level of genetic similarity decreases according to linear geographic distance, reaching null or negative values at a scale of 300 km.