Population genetics approach to the problem of nonspecific biological resistance of the human body. II. Clinical characteristics, congenital anomalies and genetic structure of sick children with attention to birth weight and length
Botvin'ev, O.K.; Kurbatova, O.L.; Altukhov, I.P.
Genetika 16(10): 1884-1894
1980
ISSN/ISBN: 0016-6758 PMID: 7193156 Document Number: 168404
Clinical analysis of several groups of newborns and infants arranged by 2 metrical characters has shown that morphologically average individuals ("adaptive norm") are most resistant to the wide range of diseases including congenital malformations. The frequency of grave diseases and congenital malformations is much higher in newborns and infants with extreme (especially low) values of characters, each group of extreme variants being characterized by a specific set of diseases. Statistically significant differences in genetic structure of these groups are detected: departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and lower level of heterozygosity for ABO and Ww loci are observed in a group of children with low weight and body length values. These features are most pronounced in the group comprising dead newborns and infants.