title: HLA-B*44 allele frequencies and haplotypic associations in Koreans.
abstract: We have investigated the frequencies of HLA-B*44 alleles and their haplotypic associations with HLA-A, -C, and -DRB1 loci in 450 healthy unrelated Koreans, including 213 parents from 107 families. All 79 samples (17.6%) typed as B44 by serology were analyzed for B*44 alleles using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) method. A total of three different B*44 alleles were detected: B*44031 (allele frequency 4.7%), B*44032 (3.1%), and B*4402 (1.3%). Three characteristic haplotypes revealing strong linkage disequilibrium were A*3303-Cw*1403-B*44031-DRB1*1302 (3.6%), A*3303-Cw*07-B*44032-DRB1*0701 (2.8%), and A*3201-Cw*05-B*4402-DRB1*0405 (0.4%). In addition, a strong association was observed for B*4402 with A*0301. The B*4403-bearing haplotypes of Koreans appear to be relatively common in Asian populations, whereas the B*4402-bearing haplotypes share some similarity to those of Caucasians. HLA-B44 alleles demonstrate a limited allelic diversity and comprise distinctive extended haplotypes in the Korean population. It is suggested that the frequencies of B44 subtype mismatches among ABDRB1-matched unrelated donor-recipient pairs would be low in this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pathology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: E Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Whang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hur
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000276:immunology*; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D059948:HLA-B44 Antigen; D015236:HLA-C Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D059866:HLA-DQ beta-Chains; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000276:immunology*; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational
chemical_list: D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D059948:HLA-B44 Antigen; D015236:HLA-C Antigens; C103716:HLA-C*14 antigen; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; D059866:HLA-DQ beta-Chains; C069051:HLA-DQB1 antigen; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains