PEPSINOGEN POLYMORPHISM IN THE INDIAN POPULATION AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH DUODENAL-ULCER

To date, there have been few studies on pepsinogen polymorphism. The p resent study examines the polymorphism of pepsinogen by PAGE in 155 du odenal ulcer cases and 92 control subjects, The Indian population pres ents a higher frequency of the B phenotype (associated with absence of the pg 5 fraction) and the C haplotype compared to other populations, Heterozygotes, in particular AC phenotypic individuals, are found to be associated significantly with the disease compared to control subje cts. All the genes of the multigene complex controlling pepsinogen pol ymorphism seem to be interacting, thereby leading to such an associati on, Thus, studies at the gene level may be helpful in explaining the g enetic etiology and heterogeneity of duodenal ulcer disease.