Genetic diversity of HLA system in two populations from Morelos, Mexico: Cuernavaca and rural Morelos

Abstract

We studied HLA class I (HLA-A, -B) and class II (HLA-DRB1, -DQB1) alleles by PCR-SSP based typing in 112 Mexicans from the state of Morelos living in the city of Cuernavaca (N = 82) and rural communities (N = 30), to obtain information regarding allelic and haplotypic frequencies. The most frequent haplotypes in Morelos include seven Native American, one European, one African and one Asian haplotype. Admixture estimates revealed that the main genetic components in Morelos are Native American (60.43 ± 2.22% by ML; 53.57% of Native American haplotypes) and European (39.58 ± 3.70% by ML; 27.68% of European haplotypes), and a virtually absent African genetic component (0.00 ± 4.93% by ML; but 11.16% of African haplotypes).

Keywords: Admixture; HLA; Immunogenetics; Morelos; Population genetics.