Association between histocompatability antigens (HLA) and nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus.
We investigated the association between phenotypes of histocompatability antigen (HLA) and nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in two populations--healthy laboratory workers and patients attending an outpatients' clinic. When data from the two sources were pooled, it was evident that the presence of HLA-DR3 was associated with carriage, and the presence of HLA-DR2, HLA-DR1 and HLA-Bw35 with lack of carriage. However, since each person may have two antigenic specificities encoded at the HLA-A, the HLA-B, and the HLA-DR loci, the carriage of the organism was analysed for paired combinations of the more frequent phenotypes. For example, the lack of carriage evident with HLA-DR1 was more marked with the DR1-A11 and DR1-B7 combinations while the predisposition towards carriage shown with HLA-DR3 was more marked with the DR3-DR5 combination. The importance of the analysis of antigen combinations is discussed in relation to association of single antigens with carriage of S. aureus.
D000328:Adult; D002353:Carrier State; D006680:HLA Antigens; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; D006801:Humans; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology*; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000254:growth & development*
D006680:HLA Antigens; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II