title: HLA polymorphism in Moroccan Jewry.
abstract: The Moroccan Jewish community living in Israel shows a relatively large genetic distance from other North African Jewish communities. In this work the polymorphism of HLA class I and class II determinants, as defined by serology and oligotyping, is analyzed in 113 healthy unrelated Jews of Moroccan stock. The class I antigens HLA-A1, -B44, and -Cw7 showed the highest frequency, while the most prevalent class II variants were DRB1*0701 and *1104, DQA1*0501, and DQB1*0201 and *0301. HLA A1-B13-DR7, A2-B51-DR10, and A1-B44-DR13 were the most typical three-locus haplotypes. Although the antigen frequency distribution of the Moroccan Jews falls within the Caucasian diversity range, this community has a unique pattern in terms of antigen, gene, and haplotype frequencies. Thus, in the Moroccan Jews DRB1*1305, an allele believed to be the result of a recombination event between DRB1*1301-1302 and DRB1*1101, is represented to a much larger extent than in all the other population groups studied at the 11th IHWS. This allele may therefore be a typical Jewish variant. A particular finding was the high frequencies of HLA-B13, B52, and DR10, alleles common among some Oriental populations. The answer to this enigmatic phenomenon probably must be sought in the tortuous history of this community.
authors.affiliation: Lautenberg Center for General and Tumor Immunology, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roitberg-Tambur
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Friedmann
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Witt
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eisenberg
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Soskolne
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shapira
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Sela
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Battat
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Safirman
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sherman
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D007585:Jews / Q000235:genetics*; D009018:Morocco / Q000208:ethnology; D010641:Phenotype; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens