Analysis of human platelet antigen systems in a Moroccan Berber population

The human platelet alloantigen systems HPA-1, -2, -3, -4, -5 and -6 in a Moroccan Berber population from the Amizmiz region were determined by polymerase chain reaction using sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP). The gene frequencies obtained from these unrelated Berbers were 0.747 and 0.252 for HPA-1a and -1b; 0.817 and 0.182 for HPA-2a and -2b; 0.682 and 0.317 for HPA-3a and -3b; 1 and 0.0 for HPA-4a and -4b; 0.8616 and 0.1383 for HPA-5a and -5b; 1 and 0.0 for HPA-6a and -6b. The Berbers have the highest frequency for the 1b, 2b and 5b alleles of all the populations reported to date and also the lowest frequency for the 3b allele.