Population genetic study of 17 Y-STR Loci of the Sorani Kurds in the Province of Sulaymaniyah, Iraq

BACKGROUND: The Kurds as an ethnic group are believed to be a combination of earlier Indo-European tribes who migrated and inhabited a mountainous area thousands of years ago. However, as it is difficult to describe the precise history of their origin, it is necessary to investigate their population relationship with other geographical and ethnic groups. RESULTS: Seventeen Short Tandem Repeat markers on the Y chromosome (Y-STR) included in the AmpFLSTR™ Yfiler™ PCR Amplification Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA) were used to type DNA samples from the Sorani (Central) Kurdish population in Sulaymaniyah province. One hundred fifty-seven haplotypes were obtained from 162 unrelated male individuals. The highest and lowest gene diversities were DYS385a/b (GD = 0.848) and DYS392 (GD = 0.392), respectively. The haplotypes were used to predict the most likely haplogroups in the Sulaymaniyah population. CONCLUSION: Haplogroup prediction indicated predominance (28%) of subclade J2 (44/157) in the Sorani Kurds, northeast of Iraq. The pairwise genetic distance results showed that the Kurdish group clustered along with Asian populations, whereas the furthest countries were Europeans and Africans. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-022-09005-6

BREAST CANCER AND MITOCHONDRIAL DNA MUTATIONS IN KURDISH WOMEN: A CASE-CONTROL STUDY FROM SULAYMANIYAH, IRAQ.

The molecular basis of breast cancer has been thoroughly investigated in the last decade. Many nuclear susceptibility genes were discovered. Moreover, research about mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations and mitochondrial haplogroup determinants (single nucleotide polymorphism; SNP) has explored their potential role in cancers in general and breast cancer in particular. This study is to identify breast cancer-related SNPs and mtDNA haplogroups among Kurdish women living in Sulaymaniyah/Iraq. This case-control study was conducted in Kurdistan Institute for Strategic and Scientific Research (KISSR) / Molecular Lab in Sulaymaniyah in collaboration with a specialized lab in South Korea. Twenty women with breast cancer and 20 women with benign breast diseases were enrolled. The entire mitochondrial genome of 40 breast tissue specimens was sequenced. Haplogrep 2.0 was utilized for haplogroup identification. Statistical Analysis was performed using Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests. A total of 547 mutations (Cancer, n=344 and Control, n=203) were identified including 15 first-reported mutations. HV haplogroup in the cancer samples was a risk factor for the development of breast cancer (p=0.002) compared to H haplogroup in the control samples (p =0.006) (Odd Ratio [OR] = 28.00). Furthermore, SNP (A8860G) was an additional risk compared to other randomly selected SNPs (A750G, A1438G, and C7028T) (p ˂0.05 and OR >1). In conclusions; the association of certain mtDNA haplogroups and SNPs with breast cancer risk is not new. Unlike studies performed in other populations of the world figuring out A10398G as the risky SNP, our study identified A8860G in the Kurds. Geographic and ethnic variations between human populations do exist, so an SNP that is common in one population group may be much rarer in another. Hence, more research on the molecular biology of breast cancer in our locality is warranted to clarify the situation

Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern and Initial Detection of Omicron using RT-PCR in the Kurdistan region of Iraq

Background:Omicron (B.1.1.529), a novel SARS-CoV-2 variant (VOC), is a highly diverse variant with many mutations. Immune evasion is possible, as is increased transmissibility within the populations. The RT-qPCR method may be effectively utilised for variant surveillance. This is to rule in or rule out significant variants quickly. Objectives: As a result, the goal of this study was to track the prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in the local community using the SGTF test in conjunction with the SARS-CoV-2 S-gene mutations RT-PCR assays. Patients and methods: The study included 255 SARS-CoV-2 positive specimens collected in Erbil central public health laboratory between January 1 to February 6, 2022, for routine testing purposes. The SARS-CoV-2 variant profiling was performed on extracted RNA using PowerChek SARS-CoV-2 S-gene Mutation Detection Kit Ver.3.0 plus S-gene Target Failure (SGTF) of the TaqPath™ COVID-19 CE-IVD RT-PCR Kit. Results: The samples were surveyed, resulting in a positivity rate of (86.6%) for Omicron BA.1, (3.1%) Omicron BA.2, (1.7%) Delta variant (B.1.617.2), and (8.6%) were inconclusive variants. Among Omicron COVID-19 cases, 89 (38.5%) were fully vaccinated, and 4 (1.7%) received full vaccination plus a booster dose. Nevertheless, 16 (7%) of the confirmed Omicron COVID-19 cases had a documented previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. Conclusion:The SARS-CoV-2 S-gene mutations RT-PCR assay is a cost-effective and fast method for the surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. Currently, Omicron BA1 is the predominant SARS-CoV-2 variant in the Kurdistan region/Iraq, and the emergence of the Omicron BA2 variant is of high concern