Carrier rates of four single-gene disorders in Croatian Bayash Roma.

To assess how specific population history, different migration routes, isolation, and endogamy practices contributed to the distribution of several rare diseases found in specific Roma groups, we conducted a population-based research study of rare disease mutations in Croatian Vlax Roma. We tested a total of 427 subjects from Baranja and Međimurje for the presence of four mutations causing hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy type Lom (HMSNL), GM1 gangliosidosis (GM1), congenital cataracts, facial dysmorphism and neuropathy (CCFDN), and limb girdle muscle dystrophy type 2C (LGMD2C), using the RFLP-PCR method to estimate carrier frequencies. We identified a total of four individuals heterozygous for the mutation causing HMSNL in the Baranja population, with a carrier rate amounting to 1.5%. Carriers for other three mutations causing GM1, CCFDN, and LGMD2C were not found in our sample. The carrier rate for the HMSNL mutation in Baranja is lower than in other Vlax Roma groups. In addition, distinct differ...