[Genetic aspects of valvulopathies].

Valvular dystrophies due to myxoid degeneration are common and potentially serious cardiac pathologies. They constitute a heterogeneous group of which the most usual is idiopathic mitral valvular prolapse (Barlow's disease). The majority of mitral valvular prolapses are sporadic, but there are several familial forms.

An mtDNA perspective of French genetic variation.

Background: The French has been insufficiently characterized so far for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity.

Aims: The study aimed to enhance the information available for the French mtDNA pool and to explore the potential microgeographical differentiation of two French regions selected for their linguistic and historical idiosyncrasies.

Subjects And Methods: A total of 868 samples from 12 different locations in France were collected.

Familial aggregation of calcific aortic valve stenosis in the western part of France.

Background: Calcific aortic valve stenosis (CAVS) is the most common valvular defect in developed countries. Unlike mitral valve prolapse, there is no demonstration that a familial factor could play a role in the occurrence of this disease. The aim of this study was to demonstrate a familial aggregation for CAVS.

Disuniting uniformity: a pied cladistic canvas of mtDNA haplogroup H in Eurasia.

It has been often stated that the overall pattern of human maternal lineages in Europe is largely uniform. Yet this uniformity may also result from an insufficient depth and width of the phylogenetic analysis, in particular of the predominant western Eurasian haplogroup (Hg) H that comprises nearly a half of the European mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) pool. Making use of the coding sequence information from 267 mtDNA Hg H sequences, we have analyzed 830 mtDNA genomes, from 11 European, Near and Middle Eastern, Central Asian, and Altaian populations.

Phylogeography of Y-chromosome haplogroup I reveals distinct domains of prehistoric gene flow in europe.

To investigate which aspects of contemporary human Y-chromosome variation in Europe are characteristic of primary colonization, late-glacial expansions from refuge areas, Neolithic dispersals, or more recent events of gene flow, we have analyzed, in detail, haplogroup I (Hg I), the only major clade of the Y phylogeny that is widespread over Europe but virtually absent elsewhere. The analysis of 1,104 Hg I Y chromosomes, which were identified in the survey of 7,574 males from 60 population samples, revealed several subclades with distinct geographic distributions. Subclade I1a accounts for most of Hg I in Scandinavia, with a rapidly decreasing frequency toward both the East European Plain and the Atlantic fringe, but microsatellite diversity reveals that France could be the source region of the early spread of both I1a and the less common I1c.