Myotonic dystrophy type 1 is caused by expansion of a CTG trinucleotide repeat situated in the DMPK gene. Worldwide genetic studies suggest a single or limited number of mutational events cause the disease. However, distribution of CTG alleles and disease incidence varies among ethnicities. Due to the great ethnic diversity of the Mexican population, the present study was aimed at analyzing the impact of different lineages in shaping the CTG-repeat allelic distribution in the contemporary Mexican-Mestizo population as well as to shed light on the DM1 ancestral origin. Distribution of CTG-repeat alleles was similar among Mestizo and Amerindian subpopulations with (CTG)11-13 being the most frequent alleles in both groups, which implies that Mexican-Mestizo allelic distribution has been modeled by Amerindian ancestry. We diagnosed a relatively high number of cases, consistent with the high frequency of large-normal alleles found in Mexican subpopulations. Haplotype analysis using various polymorphic-markers in proximity to DMPK gene indicates that a single founder mutation originates myotonic dystrophy type 1 in Mexico; however, Y-STR haplogroups data and the presence of pre-mutated and large normal alleles in Amerindians support the hypothesis that both European and Amerindian ancestral chromosomes might have introduced the disease to the Mexican population, which was further disseminated through mestizaje.
Keywords: Amerindian population; CTG repeats; Haplotype; Mexican mestizo population; Myotonic dystrophy type 1; Polymorphism.
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