01728nas a2200361   4500000000100000008004100001260001600042653002600058653001800084653001800102653001100120653003800131653001100169653001700180653001100197653000900208653002700217653002300244653002000267653003600287653000900323653001700332100001300349700001500362700001200377700001100389700001100400245007100411300001000482490000600492520085400498022001401352       2009                            d  c2009 Aug 2310aCommunicable Diseases10aConsanguinity10aFamily Health10aFemale10aGenetic Predisposition to Disease10aGenome10aHeterozygote10aHumans10aMale10aMicrosatellite Repeats10aModels, Biological10aModels, Genetic10aPolymorphism, Single Nucleotide10aRisk10aRisk Factors1 aLyons EJ1 aFrodsham A1 aZhang L1 aHill A1 aAmos W00aConsanguinity and susceptibility to infectious diseases in humans.  a574-60 v53 a<p>Studies of animal populations suggest that low genetic heterozygosity is an important risk factor for infection by a diverse range of pathogens, but relatively little research has looked to see whether similar patterns exist in humans. We have used microsatellite genome screen data for tuberculosis (TB), hepatitis and leprosy to test the hypothesis that inbreeding depression increases risk of infection. Our results indicate that inbred individuals are more common among our infected cases for TB and hepatitis, but only in populations where consanguineous marriages are common. No effect was found either for leprosy, which is thought to be oligogenic, or for hepatitis in Italy where consanguineous marriages are rare. Our results suggest that consanguinity is an important risk factor in susceptibility to infectious diseases in humans.</p>  a1744-957X