Common west African HLA antigens are associated with protection from severe malaria.
A large case-control study of malaria in West African children shows that a human leucocyte class I antigen (HLA-Bw53) and an HLA class II haplotype (DRB1*1302-DQB1*0501), common in West Africans but rare in other racial groups, are independently associated with protection from severe malaria. In this population they account for as great a reduction in disease incidence as the sickle-cell haemoglobin variant. These data support the hypothesis that the extraordinary polymorphism of major histocompatibility complex genes has evolved primarily through natural selection by infectious pathogens.
Hill
A V
AV
Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, UK.
Allsopp
C E
CE
Kwiatkowski
D
D
Anstey
N M
NM
Twumasi
P
P
Rowe
P A
PA
Bennett
S
S
Brewster
D
D
McMichael
A J
AJ
Greenwood
B M
BM
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005714:Gambia; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex; D008288:Malaria / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
D006680:HLA Antigens