Association of human leukocyte antigen class II allele and haplotypes in chikungunya viral infection in a western Indian population.
BACKGROUND
Genes coding for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II molecules are polymorphic and have been shown to influence susceptibility to viral diseases.


METHODS
One hundred patients with acute chikungunya with and without viral load and 250 chikungunya negative controls from western India were studied for the distribution of HLA class II alleles by PCR with sequence-specific primer (SSP) method.


RESULTS
Frequency of DRB1*11 allele group (patients vs controls: p=0.002, Pc=0.036, OR=0.21) and haplotype DRB1*11/DQB1*03 (patients vs controls: p=0.007, OR=0.15) were significantly low, while haplotype DRB1*04/DQB1*03 (patients vs controls: p=0.042, OR=1.94) was significantly high in the patient population. HLA DQB1*04 allele was found only in the patient group with viral load (n=17), suggesting possible involvement of the same with chikungunya virus (CHIKV) replication.


CONCLUSIONS
Association of HLA-DRB1*11 and the emergence of DRB1*11/DQB1*03 & DRB1*04/DQB1*03 as resistant and susceptible haplotypes towards CHIKV infection is being reported for the first time. Our results suggest that genetic susceptibility and/or resistance to chikungunya infection may be modulated by HLA class II alleles.
Hepatitis Group, National Institute of Virology, Pune, 130/1, Sus Road, Pashan, Pune, Maharashtra, India-411021.
Subrat
S
Thanapati
Aparna
A
Hande
Rumki
R
Das
Yogesh
Y
Gurav
Anuradha S
AS
Tripathy
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D065632:Chikungunya Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006680:HLA Antigens; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D006680:HLA Antigens; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains
Chikungunya; HLA class II; Human leukocyte antigen; western Indian population