P 53 Codon 72 and Past Malaria Morbidity in Sardinia

p53 codon 72 genotypes in
Nuoro and Oristano areas: *Arg/*Arg genotype is much more frequent
in Oristano than in Nuoro (p=0.024). The frequency of *Arg allele is
82.6% in Oristano and 69.1% in Nuoro (p=0.04).
In accordance with experimental studies suggesting apoptosis of
the liver cells as a defense mechanism against parasite invasion, *Arg
allele favoring apoptosis seems to have been selected positively in area
of Sardinia exposed in the past to heavy malaria endemia.