Pharmacogenetic differentiation across Latin America

Aim: To explore the pharmacogenetic differentiation across Latin American populations, using the fixation index statistics (F-ST). Materials & methods: F-ST analyses were applied to 1519 pharmacogenetic markers in the 1000 Genomes Admixed American superpopulation (1KG_AMR) and an admixed Brazilian sample. Results: Allele-specific F-ST values for the overall cohort point to little overall pharmacogenetic differentiation (average F-ST = 0.017); however, moderate differentiation (F-ST = 0.05-0.15) was observed for 83 markers, while large differentiation (F-ST = 0.15-0.25) was restricted to three markers. Pairwise F-ST analysis identified three markers with very large differentiation (F-ST >0.25). Conclusion: The present study verifies and extends previous reports of little overall pharmacogenetic divergence across Latin America, although a number of markers display substantial differentiation.