HLA analysis of Sri Lankan Sinhalese predicts North Indian origin.
Malavige GN., Rostron T., Seneviratne SL., Fernando S., Sivayogan S., Wijewickrama A., Ogg GS.
The origin of the Sinhalese population of Sri Lanka is debated. We subtyped HLA-A*02 in 101 Sinhalese and observed a preponderance of the rare allele HLA-A*0211 which was similar to reported frequencies in northern India. Taken with low-resolution typing for the remaining A, B, C, DR and DQ alleles, these data suggest a North Indian origin for the Sri Lankan Sinhalese.