title: Polymorphisms of KIR gene and HLA-C alleles: possible association with susceptibility to HLA-B27-positive patients with ankylosing spondylitis.
abstract: Accumulating evidences indicate that killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) and their corresponding specific HLA-C ligands contribute to the pathogenesis of multiple autoimmune diseases via the modulation of natural killer (NK) cell and T cell functions. The present study was performed to investigate whether the polymorphism of KIR genes and HLA ligands associates with the susceptibility of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Previous studies have demonstrated a strong association between HLA-B27 gene and the pathogenesis of AS. In this study, 115 unrelated HLA-B27-positive AS patients and 119 HLA-B27-positive healthy controls were recruited. Polymerase chain reaction using sequence-specific primers was used to determine the genotypes of KIR genes and HLA-C alleles. The results showed that the frequencies of KIR2DL1 and KIR2DL5 were significantly higher in the AS patient group than those in the control group (p = 0.012 and p = 0.009, respectively). Meanwhile, individuals with AS showed an increased frequency of HLA-Cw*08 (p = 0.001, p (c)  = 0.008) compared with that in controls. Our findings indicate that with the genetic background of HLA-B27, variation at the KIRs and their corresponding specific HLA-C ligands may influence the ability of NK cells and T cells to recognize and lyse targets in immune responses, which thereby contributes to pathogenesis of AS.
authors.affiliation: Central Laboratory, Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250021, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yu-Lian
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.forename: Bing-Chang
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: Jian-Feng
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Chun-Yan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Lai-Cheng
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zi-Jiang
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yue-Ran
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen / Q000276:immunology*; D015236:HLA-C Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D054340:Receptors, KIR / Q000235:genetics*; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen; D015236:HLA-C Antigens; D054340:Receptors, KIR