title: Association of HLA-DR/DQ polymorphisms with schizophrenia in Tunisian patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The hypothesis that human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) confer susceptibility to schizophrenic disorders has been tested by studying linkage and association in family samples. Our goal was to evaluate the role of HLA in the risk of developing schizophrenia in a Tunisian population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood samples for this case-control study were collected from patients of the Department of Psychiatry at the Military Hospital of Tunisia between July 2012 and May 2013.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 140 patients with schizophrenia were recruited for genetic analysis. Controls included 100 persons matched for age, sex, and risk factors. Participants were tested for HLA class II alleles. HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 alleles were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction sequence-specific primers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study indicates that the alleles most responsible for disease susceptibility are DRB1*03 (P < 10-3) and DQB1*02 (P < 10-3) (P denotes probability values). The most protective alleles are DRB1*13 (P=.013) and DQB1*05 (P < 10-3). Further results revealed that DRB1*0301/DQB1*0201(P < 10-3), DRB1*0401/DQB1*0301 (P < 10-3) and DRB1*1101/DQB1*0301 (P < 10-3) are haplotypes most conducive to disease susceptibility.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present findings support an association between schizophrenia and the HLA-DR-DQ locus among a Tunisian population. To our knowledge, this is the first study performed to analyze the association of HLA DRB1/DQB1 alleles on schizophrenia susceptibility in Tunisia.
authors.forename: Aicha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sayeh
authors.forename: Cheker Ben
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Cheikh
authors.forename: Meriem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mrad
authors.forename: Najwa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lakhal
authors.forename: Nasreddine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gritli
authors.forename: Slaheddine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Galelli
authors.forename: Abdelaziz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oumaya
authors.affiliation: Najiba Fekih-Mrissaa, MD, Department of Hematology,, Laboratory of Molecular Biology,, Military Hospital of Tunisia,, Tunis 1008, Tunisia, T: +21622510488,, F: +21670762084, fnajiba@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Najiba
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fekih-Mrissa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D059866:HLA-DQ beta-Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D065840:Protective Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics*; D014416:Tunisia
chemical_list: D059866:HLA-DQ beta-Chains; C069051:HLA-DQB1 antigen; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains