G-308A polymorphism in the tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene in Buryats

G-308A polymorphism in the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) gene has been studied in the Buryat population by genotyping samples from 16 subpopulations from 5 areas of Republic Buryatiya (N=865). The TNF-alpha G-308A polymorphism was assessed by the PCR and restriction analysis. It has been shown that frequency of the A allele in Buryats was 11.5 %. At comparison with other Siberian populations, statistically significant differences with Yakuts were found. In several subpopulations the deviation of genotype frequencies from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was revealed. Calculation of genetic differentiation measure for all settlements (Gst=0.0167) and for 5 investigated areas (Gst=0.0053) did not demonstrate significant differentiation of a gene pool of Buryats by the given polymorphism. The results give for Buryat population the characteristics of prevalence of functionally significant polymorphism for which associations with various multifactorial diseases are known.