Polymorphism of factor H (beta 1H globulin) in Japanese: description of a new allele.

Polymorphism of factor H (HF) was investigated in 1060 unrelated Japanese individuals using isoelectric focusing and immunoblotting. Besides 6 different HF types a null type and an unusual type were observed. The family analysis suggested the hereditary occurrence of a new variant allele HFC. The population data fitted the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, assuming that the null allele HFQO occurs commonly. The allele frequencies were HFA = 0.407 +/- 0.011, HFB = 0.491 +/- 0.011, HFA1 = 0.011 +/- 0.002 and HFQO = 0.091 +/- 0.006. The HF polymorphism in Japanese was shown to be controlled by the above 4 common alleles.