Frequencies of HLA-DRB1 in Iranian normal population and in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
BACKGROUND
Recognition of HLA alleles is useful in transplantation and in anthropological and disease studies. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common blood cancer. It is now generally agreed that both genetic and environmental factors play an interactive role in the development of ALL disease. It is unknown whether there exists a restriction to certain MHC genotypes in leukemia like ALL.


METHODS
Genetic construct of HLA DRB1 was studied in Iranian normal populations and in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia using PCR-SSP method.


RESULTS
It was shown that the most common allele in DRB1 locus in normal population was DRB1*11 (20%), whereas DRB1*09 was the least frequent allele (0.9%). Additionally, this study presented the results of HLA-DRB1 typing in 106 ALL patients and compared them with normal individuals. Comparison of the results between the normal population and the patient group revealed that there was allelic association between the DRB1*13 and the disease. Results showed that the difference between the frequencies of DRB1*13 in patients and normal individuals was significant (p=0.04), but there was a moderate difference among the frequencies of DRB1*04, *07, and *09 in childhood (0-15 years) ALL. The frequencies of DRB1*13, *04, and *07 in patients were 2.5, 16, 4.5% and, in normal individuals, were 11.4, 10, and 8.3%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
It should be concluded that DRB1*13, which showed a decrease in patients, should be protective against acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), whereas DRB1*04, which was moderately increased in patients, could be considered a susceptible allele for childhood ALL.
Yari
Fatemeh
F
Research Center, Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization, Tehran, Iran. yari@ibto.ir
Sobhani
Maryam
M
Sabaghi
Fatemeh
F
Zaman-Vaziri
Maryam
M
Bagheri
Nadia
N
Talebian
Ali
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains