The genetic polymorphism of complement component C81 (alpha-gamma) in two Chinese populations

The genetic polymorphism of the complement component C81 (alpha-gamma) in two Chinese populations (Beijing and Guangzhou) were investigated, using isoelectric focusing followed by an immunoblotting technique. Three common and two rare phenotypes were observed. The homozygote phenotype C81 A1 ascribed to a rare allele C81*A1 was newly detected. The frequencies calculated for the two common alleles were as follows: C81*A = 0.5674, C81*B = 0.4255 for the Beijing population; C81*A = 0.5117, C81*B = 0.4785 for the Guangzhou population. The gene frequencies of the two common alleles of C81 in both Chinese populations were similar to those for the other ethnic groups thus far reported, and there is no statistically significant difference between the Beijing and the Guangzhou populations.