Population studies in northern Sweden. XII. The haptoglobin polymorphism

The haptoglobin groups were studied in a material of 4,333 conscripts and blood donors from the counties of Norrbotten and V asterbotten in northern Sweden. According to their place of birth, the individuals were distributed into 23 subpopulations. In all subpopulations a good consistency with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was found. In contrast to this finding, patients from the same population with immunogenetic disorders (psoriasis, allergy) were found to have a significant deficiency of heterozygotes. The frequency of the Hp1 gene showed significant variations between subpopulations (from 0.24 to 0.45) and the FST in V asterbotten county was high (9.0 x 10(-3)). The variations were, however, not interpretable in terms of ethnic heterogeneity. The results indicate that random processes, most likely 'the four effect', have had a profound effect on the structure of the North-Swedish population.