Common and uncommon immunoglobulin haplotypes among Lebanese communities

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Abstract
Allotypes of IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, and IgA2 subclasses were investigated in seven Lebanese communities (three Moslem and four Christian). The Gm-Am haplotypes found were mainly those prevalent in Caucasians with a low frequency of haplotypes usually observed in Africans and Orientals. The difference between highlanders and lowlanders as expressed by G2m(23) was highly significant and suggested a possible adaptation to selective pressure related to the γ2 genes, possibly due to endemic malaria in the past. Exceptional Gm-Am haplotypes were unambiguously determined by family studies. Some were characterized either by a deletion or a repression or, in contrast, by a partial or total duplication of γ genes. Two others had uncommon combinations of allotypes: Gm17;23;5,10,11,13,14A2m1, where G1m(17) was present without G1m(1); and Gm3;23;5,14A2m1, where the CH3 allotypes G3m(10,11,13) were lacking.