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.
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Medical Biotechnology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Hoi-Yan
HY
Lio
Jih-Luh
JL
Tang
Jui
J
Wu
Shang-Ju
SJ
Wu
Chun-Ying
CY
Lin
Ya-Chien
YC
Yang
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