The ratio of the prevalences of insulin-dependent type (juvenile) diabetes (IDDM) in blacks and Caucasians is examined. It has been argued that this ratio is of the same order as the estimated proportion of Caucasian genes in the American black population. It has been further argued that this observation, together with an assumption of equal penetrances in the two races, is consistent with autosomal dominant inheritance for IDDM. The present paper shows that the ratio is equally compatible with a three-allele model which, moreover, incorporates observed immunogenetic heterogeneity within IDDM. This three-allele heterogeneity model exhibits some features of both dominant and recessive inheritance. The model predicts that, compared with Caucasians, there will be less pancreatic autoimmunity in the black IDDM population and lower recurrence risks to relatives of black diabetics. These predictions can be tested in future studies.
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Original Contributions|
February 01 1980
Response: Racial Differences in Juvenile-type Diabetes Are Consistent with More Than One Mode of Inheritance
Jerome I Rotter;
Jerome I Rotter
Division of Medical Genetics, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Torrance
California and the Mental Retardation Research Center, Neuropsychiatric Institute
760 Westwood Plaza UCLA, Los Angeles, California
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Susan E Hodge
Susan E Hodge
Division of Medical Genetics, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Torrance
California and the Mental Retardation Research Center, Neuropsychiatric Institute
760 Westwood Plaza UCLA, Los Angeles, California
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Address reprint requests to Jerome I. Rotter, Division of Medical Genetics, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California 90509.
Citation
Jerome I Rotter, Susan E Hodge; Response: Racial Differences in Juvenile-type Diabetes Are Consistent with More Than One Mode of Inheritance. Diabetes 1 February 1980; 29 (2): 115–118. https://doi.org/10.2337/diab.29.2.115
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