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 (APOB) 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 heterogeneity 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 0.103 for epsilon2 allele, 0.811 and 0.742 for epsilon3, and 0.143 and 0.155 for epsilon4, respectively. APOE typing performed at the protein level only in the Ethiopians revealed a variant allele, epsilon5, found at the polymorphic level both in the Amhara and in the Oromo (cumulated frequency: 0.015). A tentative explanation for the higher frequencies of epsilon4 and epsilon5 alleles was sought in relation to the lifestyle and ethnicity of the two populations. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 11:297-304, 1999. Copyright 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.