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Biomedical subjects

G Flatz

Publications and source records attributed to G Flatz.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

[Genetic traits in the area of Bodrogköz].

In 1984 a late malaria endemic area, called Bodrogköz was studied. This was a reexamination of the population genetic work performed by Walter, Nemeskéri. In six villages of Bodrogköz 328 persons were tested for AB0, Rh blood groups, haptoglobins, haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, erythrocyte amount, the MCV, the MCH and the G-6-PD were analyzed. The quantitative determination of HbF and HbA2, red cell osmotic resistance and thalassemia were measured as well. Thalassemia heterozygote carriers and an increased level of HbF were revealed. The frequency of G-6-PD deficiency was 0.39%. In Bodrogköz the frequencies of AB0, Rh and haptoglobin types were similar in the present and all previous studies. The background of this similarity might be the genetic similarity between two following generations. On the basis of these facts, the Hb0 Arab and partially DNA work we suggested an alternative hypothesis that these mutant genes got into Bodrogköz by the rather later migration than with ancient Hungarian people during the period of conquest of Hungary.

Blood Group Antigens

The distribution of the Hb constant spring gene in Southeast Asian populations.

The distribution of the hemoglobin Constant Spring (Hb CS) gene in eight populations in Southeast Asia (including Assam) was determined using oligonucleotide hybridization. Hb CS was absent in two Assamese populations with a high prevalence of Hb E. The Hb CS gene frequency was 0.033 in northern Thailand and near 0.01 in central Thailand and Cambodia. High frequencies, between 0.05 and 0.06, were observed in northeastern Thailand. The present data and a similar study in Laotians suggest that the Lao-speaking populations of the Mekong River basin in northeastern Thailand and Laos have the highest frequencies of the Hb CS gene in Southeast Asia.

Asia, Southeastern

Mediterranean types of beta-thalassemia in the German population.

Forty beta-thalassemia genes from unrelated German heterozygotes with no known foreign ancestry were examined using the oligonucleotide technique and DNA restriction analysis, with the aim of determining the contribution of Mediterranean beta-thalassemia mutations to the prevalence of this trait in the German population. Of the 40 beta-thalassemia genes, 26 were identified as Mediterranean types (20 beta 39 nonsense, 3 IVS2 nt 110, 2 IVS2 nt1, 1 IVS1 ntl G----A). The geographic distribution of the birthplaces of the probands' grandparents revealed no difference in the proportion of Mediterranean and unidentified beta-thalassemia genes in the west and the north of Germany.

DNA

Study of alpha-thalassemia in northeastern Thailand at the DNA level.

The frequency of alpha-thalassemias in a general population sample from northeastern Thailand and in an Austroasiatic group with high frequencies of hemoglobin E and beta-thalassemia, the So, was estimated using DNA techniques. Among 64 healthy adult subjects from the Khonkaen and Ubol areas, the following haplotype frequencies were determined: alpha alpha, 0.742; -alpha 3.7 (subtype I), 0.148; -alpha 4.2, 0.016; -alpha del, 0.008; alpha Constant Spring alpha, 0.055; --SEA, 0.023, and alpha alpha alpha (triplicated alpha-globin gene), 0.008. In the So group, the combined frequency of alpha-thalassemia chromosomes was 0.525.

Gene Frequency

Direct demonstration of the HB Suan-Dok mutation in the alpha 2-globin gene by restriction analysis with Sma I.

Hb Suan-Dok [alpha 2(109)(G16)Leu-greater than Arg beta 2] has an alpha-thalassemia-like effect due to low production and instability of the altered alpha-globin chain. Since the Hb Suan-Dok mutation (CTG-greater than CGG) creates a new Sma I restriction site, it was possible to diagnose the mutation by restriction analysis. The location in the alpha 2-globin gene was confirmed. The distribution of alpha-globin gene anomalies and a beta-thalassemia gene in the original family, deduced from examinations at the protein level, was verified by DNA analysis.

Adolescent

Beta zero-thalassemia in a Thai family is caused by a 3.4 kb deletion including the entire beta-globin gene.

DNA analysis of a Northern Thai family with a child affected with beta-thalassemia major revealed a novel deletion of 3.4 kb removing the entire beta-globin gene in the proposita and her mother. Detailed mapping of the deletion located the 5' breakpoint in the region between nucleotides -810 and -128 of the beta-globin locus, and the 3' breakpoint between the Ava II and Xmn I sites located downstream of the beta-globin gene. The father transmitted a codon 17 nonsense mutation, a beta-thalassemia variant common in Thailand, to the child.

Base Composition

The spectrum of beta-thalassemia mutations in northern and northeastern Thailand.

A total of 123 beta-thalassemia genes from northern (n = 113) and northeastern (n = 10) Thailand were examined. Using five oligonucleotide probes, the mutation in 108 genes (88%) was identified: 50 nonsense 17, 49 frameshift 41-42, 4-28(A----G), 2 IV1 nt5(G----C), 2IVS2 nt654, and 1 deletion removing the entire beta-globin gene. The nonsense 17 mutation (n = 39) was linked to a single haplotype, whereas the frameshift 41-42 mutation occurred with several haplotypes. The results of the present study indicate that prenatal diagnosis of clinically important beta-thalassemia syndromes using a limited set of oligonucleotides is feasible in approximately 80% of affected families in northern Thailand and most of the families with beta-thalassemia-Hb E disease in northeastern Thailand.

Base Sequence

Beta-globin gene linked DNA haplotypes and frameworks in three South-East Asian populations.

DNA haplotypes and frameworks (numbers in parenthesis) linked to the beta-globin gene were determined by restriction fragment analysis using eight restriction endonucleases on 86 (97) chromosomes bearing the normal beta-globin gene (HBB*A) and 108 (118) chromosomes bearing HBB*E in subjects homozygous for HBB*A or HBB*E from three South-East Asian populations with high HBB*E frequencies (northern Thailand, north-eastern Thailand and Cambodia). A systematic nomenclature for beta-globin gene-linked haplotype characterized by six polymorphic sites is introduced. In all populations, HBB*A occurred preferentially (greater than 80%) in linkage with the haplotype 41 (+----+) and all three frameworks described by Antonarakis et al. (1982). In contrast, almost 80% of the HBB*E genes occurred with the haplotype 27 (-+- ). In northern and north-eastern Thailand, HBB*E was present almost exclusively in frame-work 2; HBB*E in framework 3 (Asian) was limited to the Khmer population of Cambodia, and the frequency of HBB*E-linked framework 3 increased from the west to the east in this country.

Asia, Southeastern

Alpha-thalassemia in northern Thailand. Frequency of deletional types characterized at the DNA level.

The frequency of alpha-thalassemias in northern Thailand was estimated using DNA techniques. Among 106 healthy adult Thais from the Chiangmai area, 28 were shown to carry alpha-globin gene anomalies. There were 19 heterozygotes and 1 homozygote for alpha-thalassemia-2. One of the alpha-thalassemia-2 deletions was of the -alpha 4.2 type and the remaining 20 of the -alpha 3.7 type (subtype I). Deletions of both alpha-globin genes on one chromosome (alpha-thalassemia-1) of the Southeast Asian type were observed in 5 cases, and 3 alpha-globin gene triplications were identified. Compared with a previous report on alpha-thalassemia in northern Thailand which was based on the determination of hemoglobin Bart's in cord blood, the present DNA study reveals a similar frequency of alpha-thalassemia-2 but a considerably lower frequency of alpha-thalassemia-1.

Chromosome Deletion

DNA haplotypes and frameworks associated with the beta-globin gene in the Kachari population of Assam (India).

DNA haplotypes and frameworks associated with the beta-globin gene were determined in a Tibeto-Burman group, the Kachari, from Upper Assam, India, using restriction analysis at eight restriction sites. Of the total of 59 subjects, 26 were homozygous for HBB*A and 33 homozygous for HBB*E. Complete haplotype determination in 33 subjects revealed a conspicuous difference in haplotype distribution between HBB*A- and HBB*E-bearing chromosomes. The Southeast Asian HBB*E-associated haplotype -+- +- (27-2 in the present terminology) predominated on HBB*E chromosomes. The previously established beta-globin-associated frameworks 1, 2 and 3 were evenly distributed among the HBB*A chromosomes, whereas all HBB*E chromosomes had framework 2. These findings favor a common origin of the HBB*E gene in Southeast Asia and Assam.

Adult

Frequency of deletional types of alpha-thalassemia in Kampuchea.

The frequency of deletional types of alpha-thalassemias in the Khmer population of Kampuchea (Cambodia) was estimated using DNA techniques. Among 58 healthy adult Kampucheans from rural areas, 17 had alpha-globin gene anomalies. There were 14 heterozygotes and two homozygotes for alpha(+)-thalassemia; the remaining test subject carried a deletion of both alpha-globin genes (alpha(0) -thalassemia of the Southeast Asian type) on one chromosome 16, and triple alpha-globin genes on the other. All of the 18 alpha(+)-thalassemia deletions were of the -alpha 3.7 type (17 subtype I, 1 subtype II). The restriction pattern obtained with the enzyme RsaI and comparison of the intensity of hybridization with alpha-globin and beta-globin gene probes yielded no evidence of total deletion of the alpha-gene complex. The prevalence of deletional alpha(+)-thalassemia in Kampuchea is higher, and that of alpha(0)-thalassemia is lower than in neighbouring Thailand.

Blotting, Southern

X-chromosomally inherited split-hand/split-foot anomaly in a Pakistani kindred.

A Pakistani kindred comprising seven generations and 36 members with the split-hand/split-foot anomaly is described. The full expression of the trait, monodactylous or split hand and split foot, mainly of the lobster-claw type, was present in 33 males and 3 females. Other females showed a distinctly milder expression of the trait, usually in the form of partial syndactyly, metacarpal and phalangeal hypoplasia, and malformation. The distribution of the affected members in the pedigree is compatible with X-chromosomal inheritance. Hemizygous males and presumably homozygous females exhibit the typical split-hand/split-foot anomaly, whereas only a part of the obligatory heterozygous females show the milder expression. There were no associated anomalies, such as ectodermal dysplasia, cleft lip/palate, macular degeneration, malformations of the long bones or internal organs, and overt mental retardation.

Abnormalities, Multiple

Distribution of hemoglobin E and beta-thalassemia in Kampuchea (Cambodia).

The hemoglobin type of 360 adult Cambodian subjects was determined by cellulose acetate electrophoresis and microcolumn chromatography. The following distributions and frequencies of the Hb E (beta E) and the beta-thalassemia (beta-thal) genes were found: in a group of 264 Cambodians of rural areas 153 Hb A, 83 Hb AE, 19 Hb E, and nine beta-thalassemia minor (frequency beta E 0.2292, beta-thal 0.0170). In an urban group from the capital Phnom Penh there were 68 Hb A, 21 Hb AE, four Hb E, and three beta-thalassemia minor (frequency beta E 0.1510, beta-thal 0.0156). The low frequency of beta E in the urban group is probably due to Chinese admixture. Possible causes of the observed deficiency of Hb AE heterozygotes in comparison with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium are discussed.

Adult

The hemoglobin E belt at the Thailand-Kampuchea border: ethnic and environmental determinants of hemoglobin E and beta-thalassemia gene frequencies.

The frequencies of the hemoglobin E gene (HBB*E) and the beta-thalassemia gene(s) (HBB*T) were determined in 890 healthy adult males from three areas at the Thai-Kampuchean border in Northeastern Thailand. The population of the three study areas differs ethnically: area I is inhabited by Khmer-speaking people, area II has an ethnically mixed population (Tai-Lao, Soui and Khmer), and area III is predominantly Lao. In view of the topographic differences in malaria endemicity in the pre-eradication era, the probands from the three study areas were divided into subgroups "hills" and "plains" according to the location of their home villages. The frequencies of HBB*T were generally low, but the difference between the HBB*E frequencies in the "hills" (0.3295) and "plains" (0.2455) subgroups was highly significant. This is interpreted as environmental effect due to selection by malaria. A "hemoglobin E belt" with HBB*E frequencies between 0.3 and 0.35 extends along the Dangraek mountain chain at the border between Thailand and Kampuchea.

Adult

Distribution of adult lactase phenotypes in the Tuareg of Niger.

The adult lactase phenotype, lactose absorber or malabsorber, was determined using the lactose tolerance test with breath hydrogen assay in a group of Tuareg, a traditionally nomadic pastoralist population in the central Sahara. Out of a total of 118 subjects, 103 (87.3%) were lactose absorbers and 15 (12.7%) lactose malabsorbers. The frequency of the "lactase suppression gene" in this population sample was .357 (SD .043). The low frequency of lactase suppression in the Tuareg supports the hypothesis of natural selection in favor of the "lactase persistence gene" in milk-dependent nomadic pastoralist.

Adolescent