Minor histocompatibility antigen HA-1 and HA-2 polymorphisms in Taiwan: frequency and application in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
BACKGROUND
Minor histocompatibility antigens influence the occurrence of graft-vs.-host disease and graft-vs.-leukemia effects after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). We determined the population frequencies of HA-1 and HA-2 alleles in Taiwan and exploited their potential applications in allogeneic HSCT.


METHODS
HA-1 and HA-2 were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism in healthy controls (221 for HA-1 and 306 for HA-2) and HLA-matched donor-recipient sibling pairs with HSCT (92 for HA-1 and 38 for HA-2). The association of genetic polymorphisms with HSCT outcome was evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses.


RESULTS
The allele frequencies in controls were 35.3% and 64.7% for HA-1(H) and HA-1(R), and 89.0% and 11.0% for HA-2(V) and HA-2(M), respectively. HA-1 disparity was denoted in 16.3% of HLA-matched donor-recipient sibling pairs, while it was not associated with HSCT outcome. HA-2 disparity was not observed in the donor-recipient pairs studied. The possibilities of using HA-1 and HA-2 variabilities as molecular markers for hematopoietic chimerism after HSCT were 39.2% and 18.4%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data provide the information on allele and genotype frequencies of HA-1 and HA-2 in a Taiwanese population, and suggest that prospective genomic typing for HA-1 and HA-2 alleles of the donor and recipient could be a useful approach for molecular identification of hematopoietic chimerism after HSCT, rather than prognosis of clinical outcome.
Lio
Hoi-Yan
HY
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Medical Biotechnology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Tang
Jih-Luh
JL
Wu
Jui
J
Wu
Shang-Ju
SJ
Lin
Chun-Ying
CY
Yang
Ya-Chien
YC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000235:genetics; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015778:Minor Histocompatibility Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012008:Recurrence; D035781:Siblings; D013624:Taiwan; D014019:Tissue Donors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
D015778:Minor Histocompatibility Antigens