HYDERABAD: PEOPLE native to the Himalayan regions and northeastern states in the country have less chances of getting heart problems. While it is commonly assumed that people native to these regions are healthier as compared to their sub-continent counterparts as they are used to more strenuous geographical and atmospheric conditions, genetic analysis has also proven the same.
Scientists at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad genotyped mitochondrial and Y chromosomal DNA markers of 794 individuals belonging to 16 ethnic groups from the HAAP region. Along with this, they also genotyped about 850,000 autosomal markers among 35 individuals belonging to four major populations. Demographically, HAAP is defined as people living along the Himalayan region including those native to Northeastern states, Nepal and parts of Jammu and Kashmir like Leh an Ladakh.
The CCMB scientists did not find a single mutation of the Myosin binding protein C3 gene (MYBPC3) found in cardiac muscles, which results in mortality due to cardiac problems in the genetic samples of individuals from HAAPs, as compared to a 4 percent presence of this mutation in the genetic samples from individuals native to sub-continent. As part of the study for which Dr Gyaneshwer Chaubey and Dr Kumarasamy Thangaraj are the corresponding authors, the scientists also found that the HAAPs individuals belonging to 16 ethnic groups were closer genetically to the populations from the East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, than the South Asian populations.
However, the genetic closeness of HAAP population varies depending on the ethnic group. For example while the Sherpa and Changpa populations showed a significant level of ancestry with the Tibetans, who are also linguistically similar, populations from the northeast of India and Southeast Asians shared more ancestry with the Han genetic make up from China.
The study of genetic make up of the various ethnic groups has significance in the fact that it opens doors for further studies on these populations that are much different from the regularly studied sub-continent populations. For example, understanding the uniqueness of the genetic make up and mutations of the HAAPs, who have lived since long in tough climatic conditions will give an idea of how they have adapted to those conditions, says Dr Thangaraj.