Distribution of apolipoprotein E alleles in the Omani population

To estimate the apolipoprotein E (apo E) allele distribution in the Omani population and to compare them with those of other populations.

One hundred and sixty-two healthy Omanis of Arab Bedouin origin were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism.

The apo E allele frequencies were: epsilon2, 0.052; epsilon3, 0.886; epsilon4, 0.062. This pattern of distribution, characterized by the lowest epsilon4 and among the highest epsilon3 allele frequencies in the world, was very similar to that of Arabs, Southern Europeans of the Mediterranean basin, Indians, and Japanese populations.

The results indicate that the allelic distribution of apo E in healthy Omanis is characterized by low Apo epsilon4 and high epsilon3 allele frequencies similar to those of other Arab, Southern European, Japanese and Indian populations. The homogeneous distribution of apo E alleles in this group of populations might have been influenced by diet and/or genetic admixture.