HLA, GM, KM, and Diego blood group typing of Chippewa Indians

Abstract

This is the first report characterizing HLA antigen distribution in North American Indians of the Chippewa tribe. One hundred seventy-four Chippewa from Minnesota underwent HLA-A,B,C,DR, and DQ typing in a search for a single unrelated bone marrow donor. The high matching rate of this successful search is attributed to homozygosity and the extreme frequency of certain antigens in this small ethnic community. It is emphasized that smaller donor pools are required in searches within a minority population. GM and KM allotype typing as well as blood group Diego typing show patterns similar to those reported in other North American Indian groups.

Increased Frequency of HLA A2/DR4 and A2/DR8 Haplotypes in Young Saskatchewan Aboriginal People with Diabetic End-Stage Renal Disease

“…Finally, we were unable to compare HLA frequencies in our AB DESRD subjects with an optimal AB control population such as matched healthy subjects without a high risk for T2DM and renal disease; however, identifying such individuals might be very difficult. The fact that other North American Indian populations are also known to have high frequencies of A2, A24, DR4 and DR8 [32, 33]lends support to the sobering possibility that large proportions of these populations may have a genetic propensity to develop T2DM and its complications.…”

Review: the Diego blood group system

“…The calculated gene frequencies were 0.05-0.08 for Dia and 0.92-0.96 for Dib. l8 In 1990 a study by Lee et al 19 showed that Diego typing of the Chippewa tribe in Minnesota had patterns similar to those reported in other North American Indian populations.…”