Distribution of the CCR5-delta32 deletion in Southwest Germany

Anthropol Anz. 2015;72(3):303-9. doi: 10.1127/anthranz/2015/0479. Epub 2015 Feb 3.

Abstract

A 32 base pair deletion in the c-c chemokine receptor gene 5 (CCR5) leads to an inactive protein. Carriers of this deletion must have had a selective advantage because the allelic frequency of the CCR5-delat32 mutation is much higher than expected. Furthermore, there is a decline from North to South Europe. For Germany there are just very few cross-sectional surveys available. Here we investigated a large number of healthy blood donors from Northern Baden-Wuerttemberg. We observed an allelic frequency of 9.21 % of the CCR5-delta32 deletion. The distribution did not follow the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium suggesting that homozygous carriers of the deletion were overrepresented in this random sample.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Blood Donors / statistics & numerical data
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Gene Frequency
  • Germany / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Molecular Epidemiology
  • Mutation / genetics
  • Receptors, CCR5 / genetics*

Substances

  • CCR5 protein, human
  • Receptors, CCR5