engleski

Ethnic differences in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor Val66Met polymorphism in Croatian and Korean healthy subjects

Aim was to compare in a multi-centric study the frequency of alleles and genotypes in BDNF val66met polymorphism in ethnically homogenous Caucasian (from Croatia) and ethnically homogenous Asian (from South Korea) healthy subjects, as inter-population differences in BDNF val66met may be responsible for the divergent findings in genetic and association studies. BDNF val66met was genotyped in 800 (556 Croatian and 244 Korean) healthy subjects. Frequencies of alleles and genotypes were evaluated using a chi-square test. The frequencies for genotypes ( 2=114.69 ; df=2 ; p<0.001) and alleles (χ 2 =120.07 ; df=1 ; p<0.001) between Korean and Croatian individuals differed significantly, due to significantly lower (46.3% and 19.5%, p<0.001) frequency of "Met" allele, and significantly higher (53.7% and 80.5%, p<0.001) frequency of "Val" allele in Croatian subjects compared to Korean subjects. The study found significant ethnic differences in BDNF val66met polymorphism. Asian subjects had the most frequent "Met/Val" genotype and similar distribution of "Met" and "Val" alleles. In contrast, Caucasian subjects had the most frequent "Met/Val" genotype and different distribution of "Met" and "Val" alleles. These ethnic differences require matching subjects for ethnicity in pharmacogenetic studies, and in the studies investigating genetic variations in neuropsychiatric disorders.

Asian subjects; BDNF val66met; Caucasians; Croatians; ethnic differences; healthy individuals; Koreans

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