Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T14:18:20.788Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Study on Possible Increase in Twinning Rate at a Small Village in South Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

U. Matte ,
M. G. Le Roux ,
B. Bénichou ,
J. P. Moisan  and
R. Giugliani
U. Matte*
Affiliation:
Medical Genetics Unit, Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre Department of Genetics, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
M. G. Le Roux
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes, France
B. Bénichou
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes, France
J. P. Moisan
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes, France
R. Giugliani
Affiliation:
Medical Genetics Unit, Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre Department of Genetics, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
*
Medical Genetics Unit Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Rua Ramiro Barcelos 2350, 90035 – 003 Porto Alegre, RS –, Brasil.

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

A high frequency of twin births has been observed in Linha São Pedro, a small settlement which belongs to the city of Cândido Godói, located 524 km Northwest from Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in an ethnically homogeneous population of German descent restricted to a small geographic region. From 1990 to 1994, the proportion of twin births in Linha São Pedro was 10%, significantly higher than the 1.8% rate for the state of Rio Grande do Sul as a whole. Genealogical analysis showed a high recurrence of multiple births within families, as well as a high level of inbreeding in the community. Zygosity data indicated that 9 of the 17 pairs of twins studied (53%) were dizygotic. No external environmental factors were detected that could be influencing the appearance of this characteristic. This preliminary investigation confirmed the presumed existence of a high twinning rate in the community. The high familial recurrence and the high inbreeding rate suggests the presence of genetic twinning factors. Complementary studies of twins that have yet to be evaluated and the search for additional risk factors, as well as linkage studies, should contribute to a further understanding of the biological factors related to twin births in the human species.

Keywords

Twinning rateTwin birthsMonozygotic twinsDizygotic twinsGenetic factors
Type
Research Article
Information
Acta geneticae medicae et gemellologiae: twin research , Volume 45 , Issue 4 , October 1996 , pp. 431 - 437
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Twin Studies 1996

References

REFERENCES

1. Armour, JA, Povey, S, Jeremiah, S, Jeffreys, AJ (1990): Systematic cloning of human minisatellites from ordered array charomid libraries. Genomics 8: 501–512.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2. Beiguelmann, B, Villarroel-Herrera, HO (1993): Factors Influencing the Decline of Twinning in a Southeastern Brazilian Population. Rev Brasil Genet 16, 3: 793–801.Google Scholar
3. Bragg, T, Nakamura, Y, Jones, C, White, R (1988): Isolation and mapping of a polymorphic DNA sequence on chromosome 10 [D10S28]. Nucl Acids Res 16: 11395.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4. Chenevix-Trench, G, Healey, S, Martin, NG (1993): Reproductive Hormone Genes in Mothers of Spontaneous Dizygotic Twins: An Association Study. Hum Genet 91: 118–120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5. Côté, GB, Gyftodimou, J (1991): Twinning and Mitotic Crossing-Over: Some Possibilities and Their Implications. Am J Hum Genet 49: 120–130.Google ScholarPubMed
6. Derom, C, Vlietinck, R, Derom, R, Van den Berghe, H, Thiery, M (1987): Increased monozygotic twinning rate after ovulation induction. Lancet 1: 1236–1238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7. Fellmann, JO, Eriksson, AW (1987): Statistical Models for the Twinning Rate. Acta Genet Med Gemellol 36: 297–312.Google Scholar
8. Harvey, MAS, Huntley, RMC, Smith, DW (1977): Familial Monozygotic Twinning. J Pediat 90: 246–248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9. Jauniaux, E, Elkazen, N, Leroy, F (1986): Clinical and morphological aspects of the vanishing twin phenomenon. Obstet Gynecol 68: 577–581.Google Scholar
10 Jeffreys, AJ, Turner, M, Debenham, P (1991): The Efficiency of Multilocus DNA Fingerprint Probes for Individualization and Establishment of Family Relationships, Determined from Extensive Casework. Am J Hum Genet 48: 824–840.Google ScholarPubMed
11. Lewis, CM, Healey, SC, Martin, NG (1996): Genetic Contribution to Dizygotic Twinning. Am J Hum Genet 61: 237–246.3.0.CO;2-R>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. McKusick, VA, Francomano, CA, Antonarakis, SE (1992): Mendelian inheritance in man: catalogs of autosomal recessive and X-linked phenotypes 1Oed. London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.Google Scholar
13. Milner, ECB, Lotshaw, CL, van Dijk, KW, Charmely, P, Concannon, P, Schroeder., HW Jr (1989): Isolation and mapping of a polymorphic DNA sequence pH30 on chromosome 4 (HGM provisional no. D4S139). Nucl Acids Res 17: 4002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14. Nakamura, Y, Gillilan, S, O'Connel, P, Leppert, M, Lathrop, GM, Lalouel, JM, White, R (1987): Isolation and mapping of a polymorphic DNA sequence pYNH24 on chromosome 2 (D2S44). Nucl Acids Res 15: 10073.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15. Nakamura, Y, Fujimoto, E, O'Connel, P, Leppert, M, Lathrop, GM, Lalouel, JM, White, R (1987): Isolation and mapping of a polymorphic DNA sequence cEFD52 on chromosome 17q (D17S26). Nucl Acids Res 16: 786.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16 Parisi, P, Gatti, M, Prinzi, G, Caperna, G (1983): Familial Incidence of Twinning. Nature 304: 626–628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17. Vergnaux, G, Mariat, D, Apiou, F, Aurias, A, Lathrop, M, Lauthier, V (1991): The use of synthetic tandem repeats to isolate new VNTR loci: cloning of a human hypermutable sequence. Genomics 11: 135–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18. Wyshak, G, White, C (1965): Genealogical Study of Human Twinning. Am J Public Health 55: 1586–1593.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed