Haptoglobin subtypes among four different populations

Haptoglobin subtypes were analysed by isoelectric focusing in four populations from Colombia, England, Nigeria, and India. There is a wide range of variation of allele frequencies in these four populations: HP*1S = 15-28%, HP* IF = 5-19%, HP*2FS = 54-79%. With the exception of the English, and the Spanish-speaking population of Colombia, all interpopulation compar-isons showed significant heterogeneity. There is an extreme variation for the HP*IF allele in different populations, and a possible geographical cline of the HP*2FS allele increasing from west to east. The data presented here suggest that HP subtypes provide a useful anthropogenetic marker for racial differentiation. © 1994 S. Karger AG, Basel.