Extended HLA haplotypes in a Carib Amerindian population: The Yucpa of thePerija Range

Eleven MHC loci haplotypes have been defined among a Carib speaking Amerind ian population; the Yucpa, inhabiting the northern section of the Perija Ra nge, on the limits between Colombia and Venezuela. This tribe has been know n with the name of "Motilones mansos" and is located close to the Chibcha-P aeze speaking Bari or "Motilones bravos." Seventy-three full blooded Yucpa living at the villages of Aroy, Marewa, and Peraya, were selected using a g enealogy previously collected by an anthropologist and tested for Bf-C4AB c omplement allotypes and by serology, high resolution PCR-SSO and SBT typing for HLA class I and class 2 alleles. Combinations of 6 HLA-A, 6 HLA-B, 5 H LA-C, I Bf, 3 C4AB, 3 DQA1, 3DQB1 and 2 DPA1 and 2 DPB1 alleles present in this population originate 17 different haplotypes, 3 of which represent 63% , of the haplotypic constitution of the tribe. The presence of 13 individua ls homozygous for I I-loci haplotypes corroborates the existence of the fol lowing allelic combinations: DRB1*0411 DQA1*03011 DQB1*0302 DPA1*01 DPB1*04 02 with HLA-A*6801 C*0702 B*3909 BfS C4 32 (f = 0.3372) or with A*0204 C*07 02 B*3905 (f = 0.1977) and a third haplotype which differs only in DRB1*040 3 and A*2402 (f = 0.0930). The results demonstrate the isolation of the tri be and the existence of high frequencies of a reduced number of "Amerindian " ancestral and novel class I and class 2 alleles (B*1522, DRB1*0807) with significant linkage disequilibria. These results will be useful to test the hypothesis that differentiation of Amerindian tribal groups will have to r ely on haplotypes and micropolymorphism rather than allelic lineage frequen cies due to the uniformity shown thus far by the putative descendants of th e original Paleo-Indians. Human Immunology 62, 992-1000 (2001). (C) America n Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, 2001. Published by Els evier Science Inc.