title: Association of the HLA-DRB1 locus with syphilis in a Chinese population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum spirochete bacterium. The association of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) with syphilis has been reported in several populations, but not in the Chinese population. Furthermore, serology methods have mostly been used in previous studies investigating the association between STIs and HLA alleles. The objective of this study was to analyze the association of the HLA-DRB1 alleles and susceptibility to syphilis in the Chinese population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) method was used to genotype HLA-DRB1 alleles in 196 syphilis patients and 500 healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The HLA-DRB1*14 allele was more prevalent in syphilis patients than in the healthy controls (p=0.013; corrected p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The allele HLA-DRB1*14 was found to be associated with susceptibility to syphilis in the Chinese population.
authors.affiliation: Shandong Provincial Institute of Dermatology and Venereology, Provincial Academy of Medical Science, Shandong Province, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Wei
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Hong-Qing
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Fu-Ren
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D013587:Syphilis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains