Pharmacogenetic differentiation across Latin America

Abstract

Aim: To explore the pharmacogenetic differentiation across Latin American populations, using the fixation index statistics (F ST). Materials & methods: F ST analyses were applied to 1519 pharmacogenetic markers in the 1000 Genomes admixed American superpopulation (1KG_AMR) and an admixed Brazilian sample. Results: Allele-specific F ST values for the overall cohort point to little overall pharmacogenetic differentiation (average F ST = 0.017); however, moderate differentiation (F ST = 0.05–0.15) was observed for 83 markers, while large differentiation (F ST = 0.15–0.25) was restricted to three markers. Pairwise F ST analysis identified three markers with very large differentiation (F ST >0.25). Conclusion: The present study verifies and extends previous reports of little overall pharmacogenetic divergence across Latin America, although a number of markers display substantial differentiation.