Ethnic variation of Fc gamma receptor polymorphism in Sami and Norwegian populations

Receptors for the Fc domain of IgG (Fc gammaR) play a critical role in linking cellular and humoral immunity. The various Fc gammaR genotypes may contribute to differences in infectious and immune-related diseases in various ethnic populations. The Samis are the aboriginal inhabitants of Norway and Fennoscandinavia and differ ethnically from the Norwegians. The distribution of various immune-related diseases has been reported to differ between Sami and Norwegians. This is the first study to evaluate the distribution of Fc gammaR polymorphisms in a Sami population. Two hundred Samis were genotyped for polymorphisms in the Fc gammaRIIA, Fc gammaRIIIA and Fc gammaRIIIB genes. The genotype and allele frequencies were compared with those of 272 healthy Norwegians. The Sami and Norwegian Fc gammaRIIA, Fc gammaRIIIA and Fc gammaRIIIB genotypes differed significantly. The Samis had higher frequencies of the Fc gammaRIIa-H/H131, Fc gammaRIIIa-F/F158 and Fc gammaRIIIb-NA1/NA1 genotypes. The Fc gammaR genotypes were non-randomly distributed in both populations. These findings may be important for the prevalence of autoimmune and infectious diseases in the two populations.