Class-I human leukocyte alleles in leprosy patients from Southern Brazil

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Main Authors: Danilo Santana Alessio Franceschi, Luiza Tamie Tsuneto, Priscila Saamara Mazini, William Sergio do Sacramento, Pâmela Guimarães Reis, Cristiane Conceição Chagas Rudnick, Samaia Laface Clementino, Ana Maria Sell, Jeane Eliete Laguila Visentainer
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 2011
• Subjects: Genes HLA de classe I; Hanseníase; Mycobacterium leprae; Susceptibilidade genética; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic; Lambda
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0037-86822011000500018; https://doaj.org/article/ce03f027069c4c58a62c1ea18480f50e

INTRODUCTION: The present study was designed to investigate a possible role of HLA (histocompatibility leucocyte antigen) class-I alleles (HLA-A, -B, and -C) in leprosy patients from Southern Brazil. METHODS: Two hundred and twenty-five patients with leprosy and 450 individuals for the control group were involved in this research. HLA genotyping was performed through PCR-SSO protocols (One Lambda, USA); the frequency of these alleles was calculated in each group by direct counting, and the frequencies were then compared. RESULTS: There was an association between HLA-A*11 (6.9% vs 4.1%, p=0.0345, OR=1.72, 95% CI=1.05-2.81), HLA-B*38 (2.7% vs. 1.1%, p=0.0402, OR=2.44, 95% CI=1.05-5.69), HLA-C*12 (9.4% vs. 5.4%, p=0.01, OR=1.82, 95% CI=1.17-2.82), and HLA-C*16 (3.1% vs. 6.5%, p=0.0124, OR=0.47, 95% CI=0.26-0.85) and leprosy per se. In addition, HLA-B*35, HLA-C*04, and HLA-C*07 frequencies were different between lepromatous (LL) and tuberculoid (TT) patients. However, after adjusting for the number of alleles compared, Pc values became nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS: Although our results do not support the previous findings that HLA class-I alleles play a role in leprosy pathogenesis, we suggest new studies because of the importance of the association between the HLA and KIR in the innate immune response to leprosy.