IS THERE A LINK BETWEEN AFRICAN IRON OVERLOAD AND THE DESCRIBED MUTATIONS OF THE HEREDITARY HEMOCHROMATOSIS GENE

Over 80% of Caucasian patients with hereditary haemochromatosis are ho mozygotes for a C282Y mutation in the HFE gene on chromosome 6. Recent evidence suggests that a genetic factor may also be involved in the p athogenesis of African iron overload, although the locus has not been described. PCR analysis of DNA from 25 southern Africans, identified b y segregation analysis as having a high probability of carrying the pu tative African iron-loading gene, failed to identify any subjects with the C282Y mutation. The possible genetic defect in African iron overl oad appears to be different from that described in most cases of hered itary haemochromatosis in Caucasians.