FREQUENCY OF THE F508 DELETION IN CYSTIC-FIBROSIS PATIENTS FROM THE EUROPEAN PART OF THE USSR

The frequency of the F508 deletion (DELTA-F508) has been analyzed in 189 cystic fibrosis (CF) patients from the European part of the USSR, viz. 127 northern Slavonians (Leningrad region), 30 southern Slavonians (the Ukraine), 10 central Slavonians (Moscow region), 14 Moldavians (Kishenev region) and 8 Lithuanians (Vilnius region). The distribution of CF+ chromosomes with and without DELTA-F508 varied significantly in the different ethnic groups studied and correlated with the clinical manifestation of CF. The overall frequency of DELTA-F508 in Slavonian patients is equal to 62.5%, approximately 90% of them being heterozygous or homozygous for this mutation. The frequency of the deletion among 99 Slavonian patients with severe disease manifestation (pancreatic insufficiency, PI) is equal to 67.5%, only 12 patients having pancreatic sufficiency (PS, 17.5%). The highest value of DELTA-F508 (77.4%) is registered in PI/CF patients of the southern Slavonian group; it is much less frequent (about 57%) in relevant groups of Slavonians from the northern and central parts of the country. Unusually low frequencies (24% and 26%) of DELTA-F508 are detected in a few samples of Lithuanian and Moldavian CF patients, respectively. All DELTA-F508+ CF-chromosomes of Slavonian origin are associated with haplotypes 2.2.2. defined by the restriction fragment length polymorphism sites KM19/PstI, CS.7/Hin6I and MP6d-9/MspI, although a high proportion (about 25%) of unknown mutations is associated with the same haplotype. Haplotype B (allele 1 XV2c/TaqI; allele 2 KM19/PstI) accounts for 91% of DELTA-F508+CF chromosomes. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis of a single origin and subsequent diffusion of this major CF mutation; however, its interpopulational dissemination in Eastern Europe does not follow the suggested south-east to north-west gradient in Western Europe. The significance of these data for prenatal diagnosis and carrier screening of CF mutations is briefly discussed.