HLA-C/KIR genotypes in oral lichen planus patients infected or non-infected with hepatitis C virus.
OBJECTIVE
Oral Lichen Planus (OLP) is associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and resembles graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) both clinically and histologically. The killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genes encode a family of receptors expressed on NK and T cells and are supposed to play a significant role in GVHD and HCV infection. The aim of this study was to analyze the association among OLP, HCV infection and variants in KIR gene expression.


METHODS
A total of 81 patients with OLP (36 HCV+ve and 45 HCV-ve) and 217 healthy controls (HCV-ve) were typed for the presence of eight KIR genes and of HLA-Cw* alleles by polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer.


RESULTS
There were no significant differences in the frequency of the KIR genes and HLA-C1/C2 group alleles between cases and controls. We only found a significant difference in the frequency of the gene KIR2DL2 between HCV+ve and HCV-ve OLP patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The present data suggest that OLP is not associated with particular KIR genes or with HLA-Cw* alleles in patients without HCV infection. Contrarily, the role of the genes in OLP-HCV+ve patients remains unclear and might warrant further researches.
Carrozzo
M
M
Department of Oral Medicine, Newcastle upon Tyne University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. marco.carrozzo@ncl.ac.uk
Elia
A
A
Mereu
V
V
Dametto
E
E
Fasano
Me
M
Broccoletti
R
R
Rendine
S
S
Amoroso
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D015236:HLA-C Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D017676:Lichen Planus, Oral / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D054340:Receptors, KIR / Q000235:genetics*; D054343:Receptors, KIR2DL2 / Q000235:genetics; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
D015236:HLA-C Antigens; C515077:KIR2DL2 protein, human; D054340:Receptors, KIR; D054343:Receptors, KIR2DL2