1) The document summarizes hemoglobin variants found in the ethnically diverse population of Venezuela, which originated from indigenous tribes, Europeans, and Africans. 2) A variety of hemoglobin variants and thalassemias have been identified in Venezuela, many found in families of Venezuelan, Spanish, Italian, Colombian, Ecuadorean, Chinese, Haitian, Lebanese, and Warao Indian descent. 3) The search for hemoglobin variants in Venezuela's mixed population can provide important information for anthropological, genetic, and epidemiological studies.

1. HEMOGLOBIN, 6 ( 3 ) , 243-246 (1982)
SPECIAL FEATURE
HEMOGLOBIN VARIANTS IN VENEZUELA
The Venezuelan population is generally considered as origi-
nating from three main racial branches (Indians, Caucasoids, and
Negroids), although each is really more heterogenous than it would
seem at first sight.
their arrival in Venezuela, belonged to the Carib, Arawak, and the
so-called "marginal" tribes.
tural, social, physical, and even biochemical differences. The
Caucasoid population arriving from Europe was mainly Basque, Castil-
lian, and Navarric. Later, Catalans, Portuguese, Dutch, German,
Greeks, Italians and even Ukranians, Poles, and Lettish also came.
By singling out the Italians as an example, it is possible to
The Indians, found by the Spaniards upon
These three groups showed marked cul-
see how today's Venezuelan population was formed. The first Italians
arrived in Venezuela in 1534 with the first voyages of the German
merchants, the Welsers. A sailor of the time described the situation
of the crew in a Venezuelan-bound vessel as follows: "they were of
many languages, part Scots, English and Flemish, the majority being
Basques, Spanish and Italians, around thirty persons which in an
emergency could not understand one another. There were also some
Orientals (probably Slavs); this way when one asked something,
another answered something different" (1). Italians continued to
come to Venezuela, although in small batches, up to the second half
of the 19th century when a large group of Italian families, followers
of Garibaldi, arrived (2). During the 1940's and 1 9 5 0 ' s , a great
wave of Italian immigrants arrived in Venezuela, the majority of
them making their homes here, and either starting their families in
Venezuela or bringing them over from Italy.
The problem of the African populations which were brought to
Venezuela is even more complex. Historically it is known that some
slave vessels came straight from Africa to Venezuela and that later
on slaves were brought over as a result of licit commercial trans-
actions in the Antilles (Curacao, Cuba, Santo Domingo, and Puerto
Rico) in order to put them to work in agriculture, mining, or as
domestic help. Furthermore, runaway slaves from Curacao and Trinidad
would arrive in Venezuela, surreptitiously remaining free in some
jungle sanctuary.
aggressiveness (they were called "Black Cimarrons"). Later, these
These were feared because of their number and
Received: Uecembm 14, 1987; Accepted: Mmch 19, 1982.
243
Copyright 0 1982 by Marcel Dekker. Inc.
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2. 244 SPECIAL FEATURE
Negroids constituted the first nucleus of some of today's mountain
population. From an anthropologic viewpoint, it is possible that
the African population arriving in Venezuela probably constituted a
more heterogenous group than others; for example, those who arrived
in the United States or Brazil apparently came from limited African
regions. Supposedly, those who arrived in Venezuela were of Sudanese
as well as Bantu origin (3). Although the proportions from each group
and the exact place from where they came is doubtful.
The search for hemoglobin variants in a population of such varied
background as Venezuela, should yield important information for anthro-
pologic, genetic and epidemiologic studies. As a contribution to those
studies, we compiled, in the following table, the hemoglobin variants
identified in Venezuela ( 4 - 7 ) .
LIST OF HEMOGLOBINS AND THALASSEMIAS FOUND IN VENEZUELA*
Nationality or
ethnic origin
No. families
Hb A2' (B2)
Hb Broussais
Hb C
6 16 Gly+Arg 10
~1 90 Lys-tAsn 1
B 6 Glu-+Lys 1
Hh D B 121 Gluxln
Hb Deer Lodge 13 2 His+Arg
Hb Hofu B 126 Valxlu
Hb North Shore-
Caracas 8 134 Val+Glu
Hbs B 6 GluWal
THALASSEMIAS
Hb H Disease
1
I
2
76
1 3
1
1
Venezuelan**
Venezuelan**
Ecuadorean
Spanish
Italian
VenezueIan**
Venezuelan**
Venezuelan**
Spanish
1 English
9 Colombian
1 Haitian
1 Italian
1 Trinidadian
456 Venezuelan""
Chinese
Venezuelan**
Colombian
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3. SPECIAL FEATURE 245
a-thalassemia trait
B-thalassemia trait
8-thalassemia intermedia
8-thalassemia major
Hb Lepore
H.P.F.H.
Nationality or
ethnic origin
No. families
1
2
1
1
1
1
3
1
45
1
1
116
4
5
4
2
2
4
Italian
Lebanese
Argentinian
Bolivian
Chi1ean
Spanish
Greek
Haitian
Italian
Portuguese
Puerto Rican
Venezuelan**
Venezuelan**
Venezuelan**
Italian
Italfan
Venezuelan**
Warao Indian
*
**
Information collected up to March 1981
This refers to Venezuelan "Mestizo" population originating from
Indians, Europeans, and Africans.
Universidad Francisco de Miranda, Tulio Arends
Coro, Venezuela
Instituto Venzolano de Investigaciones
Caracas 1010-A, Venezuela Miren Anchustegui
Gilbert0 Gar&
Cientificas, IVIC, Apartado 1827, Olimpia P;rez-B&dez
REFERENCES
1. Friede, J. Los Welser en la Conquista de Venezuela. Edime,
2. Gerulewicz, M.V. de Italia y 10s Italianos en la Historia y
Madrid, 1961.
en la Cultura de Venezuela. Imprenta Nacional, Caracas, 1966.
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4. 246 SPECIAL FEATURE
3 . Acosta Saignes, M. Vida de 10s Esclavos Negros en Venezuela.
Hesperides, Caracas, 1967.
4 . Arends, T . , in Genetical, Functional and Physical Studies of
Hemoglobins, edited by T. Arends, G. Bemski, and R.L. Nagel,
p. 82, Karger, Basel, 1971.
tic Aspects, edited by R.M. Schmidt, p. 229, Academic Press
I n c . , New York, 1975.
FEBS Letters 80:261, 1977.
and Mgrida, N. Acta Cient. Venez. 24(supp. 1):37, 1973.
5. Arends, T., in Abnormal Haemoglobins and Thalassaemia Diagnos-
6. Arends, T., Lehmann, H., Plowman, D., and Stathopoulou, R.
7 . Arends, T., Garlin, G. Guevara I., J.M., Rojas Martinez, G.,
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