Genetic Markers and Anthropometry in the Populations of the Egyptian Oases of El-Kharga and El-Dakhla

Abstract

The populations of two Western Desert Egyptian oases have been studied for various genetic markers of the blood and some anthropological characters. Hb AS was found in 9%. Blood group frequencies were similar in both oases; 10.2% were RhD-negative, G-6-PD deficiency was found in 7.5 %; Gd^A had a frequency of 1 % in El-Kharga and 16% in El-Dakhla; PGDC was 5.5% in El-Kharga and 6.2 % in El-Dakhla. All individuals examined were homozygous for AK¹; acid phosphatase gene frequencies in El-Kharga were P^a = 0.1475, P^c = 0.0164, P^r= 0.0164; in El-Dakhla, P^a = 0.0667, P^c = 0.00, P^r = 0.0333; in El-Kharga the Hp gene had a frequency of 0.4415, Hpo-o = 8.29%; in El-Dakhla, Hp¹ had a frequency of 0.3245, Hpo-o = 3.39%. The information provided points to a mixture of Caucasian and negroid features in the populations studied. The negroid influence is more marked in the El-Dakhla oasis. Head measurements show that El-Kharga males reveal more Caucasoid stock and are closer to the Upper Egyptians than most populations of the neighboring oases.

Some blood genetic markers of the Nuba and Hawazma tribes of Western Sudan

“…A similar low frequency of PGDc has been reported in Baganda of East Africa (Roberts et al, 1977), Arabs of Jordan (Banerjee et al, 1985), and Kuwait (Sawhney et al, 1984). The Nubians of the Aswan Governate, Egypt, have been reported to have no PGDc, while Nubians of south Egypt had very high frequency of PGDc (0.17) (Azim et al, 1974;Bertin et al, 1978). Slightly higher values of PGD' have been reported among Bedouin of North Sinai (0.07 : Hamza et al, 19761, in Egyptians of oases (0.06: Selim et al, 1974), andLybians (0.05-0.11: Kame1 et al, 1975).…”

“…On the other hand a lower frequency of Hp' has also been reported in eastern Saudi Arabia (0.432: Goedde et al, 19791, tribes of western Saudi Arabia (0.3182-0.4167: Saha et al, 1980) and southern Arabia (0.4454: Marengo-Rowe et al, 1974). A still lower frequency of Hp' was observed in Ethiopians (0.38: Harrison et al, 1969), North Sinai inhabitants (0.296-0.345: Hamza et al, 1976), Egyptian oases (0.3245: Selim et al, 1974), and Lybians (0.4211-0.4285: Kame1 et al, 1975). A lower frequency of Hp' has also been reported in Kuwaiti and Jordanian Arabs (0.2924: Banerjee et al, 1981;Saha and Banerjee, 1986;Sawhney et al, 1984).…”

“…Anthropol. 8323-82. Azim, AA, Kamel, K, Gaballah, MF, Sabry, FH, Ibrahim, W, Selim, 0, and Moafy, N (1974) Genetic blood markers and anthropometry of the populations in Aswan governate, Egypt. Hum.…”

“…(Bayoumi et al, 1979;Banerjee et al, 1981, Saha and Banerjee, 1986, Hamza et al, 1976, although isolates of Shiati Arabs from eastern Saudi Arabia have a high Hbs frequency (Lehmann et al, 1963, Goedde et al, 1979. The Nubians of southern Egypt and northern Sudan also do not seem to possess HbS (Awny et al, 1965;Azim et al, 1974;Bertin et al, 1978). On the other hand, the introduction of Hbo-Arab is probably due t o Arab elements from North Africa .…”

Absence of the -thalassaemia syndromes in Egyptian Arabs

“…The scarcity or absence of Hb H in Egypt is substantiated by a similar finding in surveys and studies which covered the majority of Egyptian territories (Kamel et al, 1960;Awny, Kamel, and Hoerman, 1965;Kamel, 1968;Azim et al, 1974;Ibrahim et al, 1974;Selim et al, 1974) as well as in neighbouring Libya (Kamel etal, 1975).…”