title: Relationship of HLA antigens and cryoglobulinaemia in hepatitis C virus infected patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To find the relationship between human leukocyte antigens (HLA) and cryoglobulin positivity in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eligible individuals selected from pre and post renal transplant settings were divided into three groups. Group A (n = 301) consisted of normal controls, while group B (n = 200) comprised of pathological controls that were HCV antibody (anti-HCV) positive but negative for cryoglobulins. Group C comprised of 56 anti-HCV positive, cryoglobulin positive patients. HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 loci were typed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and relationship between HLA antigens, anti-HCV status and cryoglobulinaemia was analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HLA-A*02, -B*57 and -DRB1*03 were more frequently found among group C members as compared to groups A and B. Only HLA-B* 57 occurrence reached statistical significance (14.3% versus 6% and 4%, corrected P-value = 0.045 and 0.012 and OR = 2.6 and 4 respectively) No differences in the distribution of HLA antigens were seen among healthy and pathological controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presence of HLA-B*57 confers susceptibility to cryoglobulinaemia in HCV infected patients in our population. HCV positive renal transplant recipients with these alleles should be monitored for cryoglobulin formation).
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology,Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, Karachi. Pakistan.
authors.forename: Sabiha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anis
authors.forename: Rana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Muzaffar
authors.forename: Mirza Naqi
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Zafar
authors.forename: Ejaz
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Kiran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fatima
authors.forename: Syed Ali Anwar
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Naqvi
authors.forename: Syed Adibul Hasan
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rizvi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003449:Cryoglobulinemia / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens