IMGT/HLA Database

IMGT/HLA Allele Ethnicity Tool

This tool allows you to retrieve information on the reported ethnicity of individuals for whom allele sequences have been submitted to the IMGT/HLA Database. To search enter the start of the allele name (i.e.; A*, A*01, A*01:01:01:01, and any previous designations). The search tool will then retrieve all relevant hits. Wildcards will automatically be added to the search and the search tool is not case sensitive.

A full list of all alleles for each locus is available from the following links; Class I list, Class II list, other loci

Allele Searches
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Description of Ethnic Origin

The basic structure of the qualifier is shown below.

Major Ethnic Group - Tribe or Local Area, Country, Region

The first part of the qualifier represents the general ethnic group of the cell donor. This splits all entries into 9 groups, providing a general classification of the major ethnic origin of the cell.

Ethnic Group	Description
American Indian	Peoples resident in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans
Australian Aboriginal	Pre-European inhabitants of Australia
Black	People whose historical origin is sub-Saharan Africa
Caucasoid	People with historical origins in Europe, North Africa or Southwestern Asia, including Indian sub-continent
Hispanic	People historically of mixed Mediterranean Caucasoid, American Indian race.
Mixed	Cell donor is of mixed race, the qualifier will where possible provide further details
Oriental	People with historical origins in East Asia.
Pacific Islander	Aboriginal inhabitants of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia
Unknown	Ethnic origin of the cell donor is unknown

These broader groupings allow more general queries on the field. The second part of the qualifier details the regional information including local area or tribal group, country and geographic region. This second set of qualifiers permits a more specialised query on particular groups or tribes, and on particular countries or continents. Further examples are shown below.

Terena Indians, Brazil would be listed as American Indian - Terena, Brazil, South America
Italian would be listed as Caucasoid - Italy, Europe
Luo Tribe, Kenya would be listed as Black - Luo, Kenya, East Africa

Information

For more information about the database, IMGT/HLA queries (including website) or to subscribe to the IMGT/HLA mailing list please contact IMGT/HLA Support.

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