title: HLA alleles and type 1 diabetes mellitus in low disease incidence populations of Southern Europe: a comparison of Greeks and Albanians.
abstract: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1) is caused by environmental factors acting on genetically susceptible individuals. HLA-DQA1 and -DQB1 are major genetic determinants of the disease. Greece and Albania represent the low DM1 incidence countries of South-Eastern Europe. The HLA-DQA1 and -DQB1 associations with DM1 were investigated in these two groups, as reference for comparisons to the high-risk populations of Northern Europe. One hundred and thirty Greeks and 64 Albanians with DM1 were studied; 1,842 Greeks and 186 Albanians were analysed as controls. The samples were typed for six HLA-DQB1 alleles, using time-resolved fluorometry to detect the hybridisation of lanthanide labelled oligonucleotides with PCR products. Individuals positive for DQB1*0201 were selectively typed for three DQA1 alleles. In both populations DQB1*0201 increased the risk for DM1 while DQB1*0301 was protective. DQB1*0302 was associated with lower risk than *0201, while *0602 and *0603 were protective in Greeks but not in Albanians. It was also shown that DQA1 has a modifying effect, altering the risk conferred by the susceptible DQB1*0201. The low incidence of DM1 in these two countries correlates with the high frequency of the protective allele DQB1*0301 and the low impact of the susceptible DQB1*0302.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Nursing, University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Peristera
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Paschou
authors.forename: Evangelos
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bozas
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dokopoulou
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Havarani
authors.forename: Ariadne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malamitsi-Puchner
authors.forename: Agron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ylli
authors.forename: Zamira
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ylli
authors.forename: Ioanna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Thymelli
authors.forename: Andriani
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gerasimidi-Vazeou
authors.forename: Christos S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Bartsocas
mesh_terms: D000415:Albania / Q000453:epidemiology; D000483:Alleles; D017931:DNA Primers; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D059848:HLA-DQ alpha-Chains; D059866:HLA-DQ beta-Chains; D006239:Haplotypes; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D006680:HLA Antigens; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; D059848:HLA-DQ alpha-Chains; D059866:HLA-DQ beta-Chains; C069050:HLA-DQA1 antigen; C069051:HLA-DQB1 antigen