Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), 16569 bp length, is formed from two region, of which one is hypervariable (D-loop region) and the other is constant. D-loop region have not a gene and very polymorphic, and so is used to study the phylogenetic. In this study, we investigated two parts of mtDNA, one of it was from constant region and the other was from D-loop region, by PCR-RFLP method in healthy individuals. We have not found different restriction sites in the constant regions of the 38 individuals in our study. On the other hand, loss of the restriction site for Hinf I enzyme was detected in the hypervariable region in four subjects. Two first degree relatives of one subject and one first degree maternal relative of the second subject demonstrated the same feature. Maternal relatives of the other two subjects were not available at time of this study. This study is the first of many studies which should be carried out, before studying genetic diseases in this population. The results may be insufficient in defining the polymorphism of the studied genetic region in our population, but the observed variations in the two sites display an expected pattern. This and similar studies should be continued with using more markers, until getting statistically satisfactory and confident results.