title: Association between human leukocyte antigen class II and pulmonary tuberculosis due to mycobacterium tuberculosis in Uganda.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is reported to infect about a third of the world's population but only 10% are thought to develop active tuberculosis (TB) disease. Host immunity regulated by human leukocyte antigens (HLA) is an important determinant of the outcome of the disease. Here we investigate HLA class II gene polymorphisms in susceptibility to TB, and whether particular HLA class II alleles were associated with TB in Uganda.
  
  
  METHODS
  HIV negative patients with pulmonary TB (n = 43) and genetically related healthy household controls (n = 42) were typed for their HLA II class alleles using polymerase chain reaction sequence specific primer amplification.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The HLA-DQB1*03:03 allele was significantly less frequent in patients compared to healthy controls (10% in controls versus 0% in patients, p = 0.003). After correction for multiple comparisons the difference remained significant (p = 0.018).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that the HLA-DQB1*03:03 allele may be associated with resistance to TB.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Mulago Hospital and Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. dwamala@gmail.com.|Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. dwamala@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wamala
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
authors.forename: Helen Koyokoyo
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Buteme
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kirimunda
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Gunilla
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kallenius
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
authors.forename: Moses
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Joloba
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D059866:HLA-DQ beta-Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D014454:Uganda; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D059866:HLA-DQ beta-Chains; C069051:HLA-DQB1 antigen; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens