Polymorphism of the c-fms, ITGB3, CCR2, and DBH genes in the populations of old believers of the Tyumen oblast and Russian residents of Novosibirsk

Abstract

Old Believers of the Tyumen oblast have been studied compared with a control sample of Russian residents of the city of Novosibirsk. The former are a unique subpopulation, which has been relatively isolated from the rest of Russians in central and northern regions of Russia due to religious reasons since the middle of the 17th century. Polymorphisms in the genes for glycoprotein ITGB3, dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DBH), and chemokine receptor CCR2 and two mutations in the c-fms gene have been analyzed. The populations are only similar in the c-fms indel. The frequencies of the rare alleles of CCR2, ITGB3, and 3'UTR of c-fms in the Old Believers are lower than in the sample of Novosibirsk Russians, and the rare allele of DBH is more frequent. A significant negative correlation is observed between DBH and CCR2 (r =–0.88; df = 4; P < 0.023). Apparently, these differences are related to the long-term isolation of Old Believers. This assumption is consistent with the fact that the levels of heterozygosity for most loci in Old Believers are lower than in Novosibirsk Russians.