Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Studies of animal populations suggest that low genetic heterozygosity is an important risk factor for infection by a diverse range of pathogens, but relatively little research has looked to see whether similar patterns exist in humans. We have used microsatellite genome screen data for tuberculosis (TB), hepatitis and leprosy to test the hypothesis that inbreeding depression increases risk of infection. Our results indicate that inbred individuals are more common among our infected cases for TB and hepatitis, but only in populations where consanguineous marriages are common. No effect was found either for leprosy, which is thought to be oligogenic, or for hepatitis in Italy where consanguineous marriages are rare. Our results suggest that consanguinity is an important risk factor in susceptibility to infectious diseases in humans.

Original publication

DOI

10.1098/rsbl.2009.0133

Type

Journal article

Journal

Biol Lett

Publication Date

23/08/2009

Volume

5

Pages

574 - 576

Keywords

Communicable Diseases, Consanguinity, Family Health, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome, Heterozygote, Humans, Male, Microsatellite Repeats, Models, Biological, Models, Genetic, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk, Risk Factors