ABSTRACT. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a multifactorial disease with possible genetic predisposition and involvement of various environmental factors. Several candidate genes have been reported as potentially associated with this lung disease. The glutathione S-transferase P1 gene (GSTP1) was proposed to be involved in susceptibility to develop COPD. It belongs to the GST family, which is a group of phase II enzymes that catalyze the glutathione conjugation of many endogenous and exogenous electrophilic compounds, such as carcinogens, therapeutic drugs, environmental toxins, and oxidative stress products. We conducted a case-control study to investigate genetic polymorphisms of this enzyme [exon 5 (Ile105Val) and exon 6 (Ala114Val)] in 234 unrelated COPD cases and 182 healthy controls from a Tunisian population. Genotyping was carried out using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism methods. GSTP1 Ala114/ Val114 and Val114/Val114 genotypes were not found in either patients or healthy controls. However, there were differences in the distribution of various exon 5 GSTP1 genotypes between COPD patients and healthy controls. GSTP1 Val105/Val105 was significantly more common in patients compared to controls (OR = 2.67; 95%CI = 1.45-4.92; P = 0.0013). Multivariate logistic regression analysis confirmed a significant relationship between the mutant genotype and COPD (OR = 2.58; 95%CI = 1.31-5.09; P = 0.026), after adjustment for classic risk factors. Analysis of variance showed no correlation between age, body-mass index, pack-years, percentage of predicted FEV1 values, and any of the GSTP1 genotypes. We conclude that subjects with GSTP1 Val105 allele are at higher risk of COPD.
Several polymorphisms in the complement components factor H and CFHR1 are associated with higher risk to develop atypical Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (aHUS) in Caucasians. We have determined the prevalence of these polymorphisms in Tunisian controls by using genetic and immunological techniques. No differences in the frequency of the factor H risk alleles c.-331C>T, c.2089A>G or c.2881G>T between Tunisian and Caucasians were found. On the contrary, the analysis of CFHR1 polymorphism revealed a higher frequency of Tunisian individuals homozygous for the CFHR1*Del (deleted) allele, and of individuals presenting the CFHR1*A phenotype. These results suggest distinct contributions of factor H and CFHR1 polymorphisms to aHUS in Tunisian and Caucasian populations.
-Human Alpha 1 antitrypsin (AAT) or protease inhibitor (PI) is a highly polymorphic glycoprotein. In this review report distributions of all detected AAT allelic variants in different world populations are collected showing their anthropological usefulness. Some variants are related to AAT deficiency (AATD) which is one of the most common genetic disorders worldwide. Data on PIS and PIZ, most common AATD mutations, and their worldwide distribution are also reported. Studies on DNA haplotypes were particularly useful for the estimations of PIS and PIZ mutations ages and worldwide spread. According to these data, it seems very likely that the PIZ mutation occurred in Sweden and was spread into the rest of the European continent via the Baltic countries. However, in a second hypothesis authors suggested multiple origins of this mutation. The highest frequencies of the PIS mutation in the Iberian Peninsula were linked to an early occurrence of the mutation in this region, before its spread throughout the Europeans countries and the Iberian Peninsula settlements and trading networks. However, the PIS allele may have been further dispersed by multiple occurrences of the mutation. This multiple origins of AAT variants could explain the higher frequencies and haplotype diversities in PIM1Val and PIM2 alleles, rather than their older base alleles (PIM1Ala and PIM3, respectively). Data on rare variants, which seem not to be so rare in some populations, are still lacking. The only reliable data, on the age of a rare AATD variant, was given on an autochthonous allele (NullOurém).
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