title: HLA-B27 in the Greek Cypriot population: distribution of subtypes in patients with ankylosing spondylitis and other HLA-B27-related diseases. The possible protective role of B*2707.
abstract: The major purpose of the present study was to investigate the frequency of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 alleles in healthy controls and in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and other HLA-B27-related diseases in the Greek Cypriot population. We selected 102 HLA-B27-positive individuals (60 controls and 42 patients). Typing of the HLA-B27 alleles was performed by polymerase chain reaction amplification with sequence-specific primers. Only two alleles were detected in the patient group: B*2702 (n = 31, 73.8%) and B*2705 (n = 11, 26.2%). The HLA-B*2707 allele was detected (n = 10, 16.7%) only in the healthy controls in addition to the B*2702 (n = 31, 51.7%) and B*2705 (n = 19, 31.7%) alleles. Our results show a restricted number of HLA-B27 subtypes associated with AS and other B27-related diseases and an elevated frequency of the B*2702 allele in the AS patients. The allele B*2707 seems to have a protective role in the population studied because it was found only in the healthy controls.
authors.affiliation: Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory, Paraskevaidion Surgical and Transplant Center, Nicosia, Cyprus. avarnavidou@transplant.com.cy
authors.forename: Agathi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varnavidou-Nicolaidou
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Karpasitou
authors.forename: Dora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Georgiou
authors.forename: Galatia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stylianou
authors.forename: Avgousta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kokkofitou
authors.forename: Christodoulides
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Michalis
authors.forename: Constantinou
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Constantina
authors.forename: Christiana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gregoriadou
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kyriakides
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006115:Greece; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D025242:Spondylarthropathies / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen