Adenosine deaminase-acid phosphatase association and the environment: A study in a continental Italian population

Three hundred fifty newborns from Rome and 351 from Penne were studied in c ontinental Italy. Medium high altitude above sea level and cold winters cha racterize the area of Penne, while low altitude and very mild winters chara cterize the area of Rome. An effect of environmental conditions on the asso ciation between adenosine deaminase (ADA) and acid phosphatase (ACP1), prev iously shown in Sardinia, has been confirmed in continental Italy. When com pared with expected independent assortment, the proportion of ACP1*A/*A car rying the ADA*2 allele is lower than expected in the lowlands and higher th an expected in highlands. In continental Italy there is an interaction amon g ACP1-ADA genotype, season of conception, and locality. The excess of *A/* A newborns carrying the ADA*2 allele is present only among those conceived in the first half of the year (January-June). Among newborns in Penne conce ived in the Spring, the proportion of those with *A/*A genotype is increase d and these infants show decreased intrauterine growth, The present data su ggest that ADA and ACP1 interact during intrauterine life with effects on d evelopment and survival and that such effects are dependent on local enviro nment and season of conception. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.