The nonrecombining portion of the human Y chromosome has proven to be a valuable tool for the study of population history. The maintenance of extended haplotypes characteristic of particular geographic regions, despite extensive admixture, allows complex demographic events to be deconstructed. In this study we report the frequencies of 23 Y-chromosome biallelic polymorphism haplotypes in 1,935 men from 49 Eurasian populations, with a particular focus on Central Asia. These haplotypes reveal traces of historical migrations, and provide an insight into the earliest patterns of settlement of anatomically modern humans on the Eurasian continent. Central Asia is revealed to be an important reservoir of genetic diversity, and the source of at least three major waves of migration leading into Europe, the Americas, and India. The genetic results are interpreted in the context of Eurasian linguistic patterns.

Background: A hot new topic in medical treatment is the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in therapy. The low frequency of this subpopulation of stem cells in bone marrow (BM) necessitates their in vitro expansion prior to clinical use. We evaluated the effect of long term culture on the senescence of these cells.

HLA-DRB1*04, -DRB1*1401, -DRB4, -DQA1*0104, -DQA1*03011, -DQB1*0302, and -DQB1*0502 alleles have been significantly increased in our patients group. Moreover, the haplotypes HLA-DRB1*04/-DQA1*03011/-DQB1*0302 and HLA-DRB1*1401/-DQA1*0104/-DQB1*0502 increased significantly in our patients. In contrast, the following alleles decreased significantly in our patients: HLA-DRB1*15, -DRB1*0301, -DRB1*07, -DRB1*11, -DRB5, -DQA1*0101, -DQA1*0103, -DQA1*201, -DQA1*05, -DQB1*0201, -DQB1*0301, -DQB1*06011, and -DQB1*0602. In addition, HLA-DRB1*15/-DQA1*0103/-DQB1*06011, HLA-DRB1*0301/-DQA1*05011/-DQB1*0201, HLA-DRB1*07/-DQA1*0201/-DQB1*0201, and HLA-DRB1*11/-DQA1*05/-DQB1*03011 decreased significantly in our patients. Genetic factors are involved in the occurrence of PV; HLA-DRB1*04 and -DRB1*1401 alleles and the related haplotypes are suggestive to be two major PV susceptibility factors in our population study.

Chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) is a disorder of the haematopoietic stem cell that results in malignant expansion of myeloid cells with a cytogenetic abnormality, and translocation between chromosomes 9 and 22, known as the Philadelphia chromosome. It has been hypothesized that genetic factors other than histocompatibility disparity may play a role in predisposition to developing CML. In this regard, T helper types 1 and 2 (Th1 and Th2) cytokines and their gene polymorphism seem to be important. Overall expression and secretion of cytokines are dependent, at least in part, on genetic polymorphism (nucleotide variations) within the promoter region or other regulatory sequences of cytokine genes. The majority of polymorphisms described are single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs). The objective of this study was to analyse the genetic profile of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in 30 Iranian patients with CML and 40 healthy subjects. In the patients and control subjects, the allelic and genotype frequencies were determined for the cytokine genes. All typing were performed with a polymerase chain reaction-sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) assay. Allele and genotype frequencies were calculated and compared with those of normal controls. The results showed that the most frequent genotypes in our patients were transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta TG/TG, interferon (IFN)-gamma AT, interleukin (IL)-4 CC at position -590, TT at position -33, and IL-10 ACC/ACC and ATA/ATA. In contrast, the genotypes TGF-beta CG/CG, IL-2 TT at position -330, IL-4 CT at position -590, CT at position -33, and IL-10 GCC/ACC were seen at much lower frequencies. The results suggest that production of TGF-beta in CML patients is higher and production of IL-4 and IL-10 is lower than in normal subjects.