HFE MUTATIONS IN OCEANIAN PEOPLE (MELANESIAN AND POLYNESIAN) G HFE MUTATIONS IN OCEANIAN PEOPLE (MELANESIAN AND POLYNESIAN)  G. Dine 1,2, G. Fumagalli 2, L.A Marquet 1, F. Van Lierde 2, V. Genty 2, R. Donnadieu 3, Y. Barguil 4,, S. Mermond 5, O. Hermine 1,6, J.F Toussaint 1,7 1-IRMES, Paris − 2-IBT, Troyes − 3-Direction Jeunesse et Sports de Nouvelle−Calédonie, Nouméa − 4-Hôpital Gaston Bourret, Nouméa − 5-Institut Pasteur de Nouvelle−Calédonie, Nouméa − 6-Hôpital Necker, Paris − 7-AP−HP, Hôtel−Dieu, Paris Introduction Homozygous mutations of the HFE gene lead to hemochromatosis. In Europe, it is mainly associated with the C282Y mutation. Other mutations are involved in the disturbance of the iron metabolism, particularly H63D. Previous international studies reveal significant frequency, notably for the H63D mutation, among European populations. Results No C282Y mutation has been found. However, at the heterozygotic state, three H63D mutations have been identified in the Melanesian group (2 women and 1 man) and four in the Polynesian group (1 woman and 3 men). There is no significant difference between both groups. The frequency in the general Oceanian population is 7/119 and more precisely 3/66 in the Melanasian group and 4/53 in the Polynesian group. Concerning the biological datas, hemoglobin levels of mutated male subjects appear slightly higher than the levels of non mutated male participants (p=0,09). Non mutated subjects have lower Stfr level than the mutated subjects (p=0.03). The mutated subjects don’t have any difference with the non mutated participants for the glycated hemoglobin. Methods We carried out a preliminary study in 2011 aiming at measuring the HFE mutations frequency among an Oceanian population from South Pacific in New−Caledonia. Each volunteer provided a full written consent, approved by the Necker Hospital Ethic Committee. The blood tests were done at the elbow fold. The following biological analyses were completed on the blood samples: complete blood count, serum iron, transferrin saturation, ferritin, glycated hemoglobin. Among the collected blood samples, 2 EDTA tubes per subject were repatriated for DNA extraction and gene assays in the IBT laboratory. Discussion This preliminary work has been done among an Oceanian population in differentiating Melanesian from Polynesian origin. The C282Y, the HFE allele most commonly associated with the hereditary hemochromatosis among persons of European descent, has not been identified in the Oceanian population. But we highlight the H63D at the heterozygotic state without any deleterious consequence on the iron metabolism or the glycemic regulation. The study included 119 subjects (66 Melanesian and 53 Polynesian), range 13−35 years (mean age 23±4.47). The participants were considered of Melanesian or Polynesian origin on the basis of two−generation autochthonous ancestry. Subjects born from miscegenation were excluded, in particularly European. The repartition gave a male/female ratio of 0.78 for Melanesian subjects (29 men and 37 women) and of 1.4 for Polynesian subjects (31 men and 22 women). The genetic assays done with the Vienna Lab method covered the following mutations: HFE mutations (V53M, V59M, H63D, H63H, S65C, Q127H, P160delC, E168Q, E168X, W169X, C282Y, Q283P), TFR2 gene (E60X, M172K, Y250X, AVAQ594−597del) and FPN1 gene (N144H, V162del). To assess the different biological parameters between mutated and non mutated subjects, we conducted t−tests. Conclusion This work is the first to inform about the situation in the native population of Pacific. This study suggests the presence of the H63D mutation in subjects with a lower frequency than in the already studied European populations. In « BioIron 2013 » Ed. International BioIron Society, 2013, 276 (abstract)