An investigation of human apolipoproteins B and E polymorphisms in two African populations from Ethiopia and Benin

Three polymorphisms (XbaI, EcoRI, and Ins /Del) of the apolipoprotein B (AP OB) gene and the polymorphism of apolipoprotein E (APOE) were investigated in two population samples of Amhara and Oromo origin from Ethiopia, and in two population samples of Bariba and Berba origin from Benin. No heterogene ity was observed within each major group. The cumulated frequencies of the APOB X+ ,R+, and D alleles for the Ethiopia and the Benin groups were 0.268 and 0.133, 0.958 and 0.818, 0.206 and 0.223, respectively. Regarding APOE, the cumulated allele frequencies of Ethiopia and Benin were 0.031 and 0.10 3 for epsilon*2 allele, 0.811 and 0.742 for epsilon*3, and 0.143 and 0.155 for epsilon*4, respectively. APOE typing performed at the protein level onl y in the Ethiopians revealed a variant allele, epsilon*5, found at the poly morphic level both in the Amhara and in the Oromo (cumulated frequency: 0.0 15). A tentative explanation for the higher frequencies of epsilon*4 and ep silon*5 alleles was sought in relation to the lifestyle and ethnicity of th e two populations. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.