An overlooked African gene variant linked to the calcium selective channel TRPV6: A mini-review.

In recent years, growing attention has become focused on the calcium selective channel TRPV6 because of the multiplicity of roles it may play in human health and disease. However, possible medical implications related to the fact that the African ancestral variant of this gene appears to be 25% more calcium-retentive than the derived Eurasian variant continue to be discounted in the genetic literature. The TRPV6 gene is expressed primarily in the intestines, the colon, the placenta, mammary and prostate glands.

High osteoporosis risk among East Africans linked to lactase persistence genotype.

This ecological correlation study explores the marked differential in osteoporosis susceptibility between East and West Africans. African tsetse belt populations are lactase non-persistent (lactose intolerant) and possess none of the genetic polymorphisms carried by lactase persistent (lactose tolerant) ethnic populations. What appears paradoxical, however, is the fact that Niger-Kordofanian (NK) West African ethnicities are also at minimal risk of osteoporosis.