Studies on the association of human leukocyte antigen class II alleles with advanced hepatosplenic schistosomiasis japonica

OBJECTIVE: To study the association of human leukocyte antigen class II (HLA-II) alleles with genetic susceptibility and resistance to advanced hepatosplenic schistosomiasis japonica. METHODS: The allelic types of HLA-DRB1, DPA1, DQA1 and DQB1 were detected by polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) technique in 46 patients with advanced hepatosplenic schistosomiasis, characterized with extensive liver fibrosis. Another 43 subjects with chronic schistosomiasis were used as control. The statistical significance of differences in allelic frequencies was determined by chi2 test. RESULTS: The frequencies of HLA-DRB1 x 04, DPA1 x 0103, DQA1 x 0601, DQB1 x 0201 in advanced patients were markedly higher than those in control group, while the frequencies of HLA-DQA1 x 0501 and DQB1 x 0601 in control group were higher than those in advanced patients. CONCLUSION: The study indicated that HLA-DRB1 x 04, DPA1 x 0103. DQA1 x 0601 and DQB1 x 0201 showing a positive, statistically significant (P<0.05) association with advanced hepatosplenic schistosomiasis japonica may be the susceptible genes, whereas HLA-DQA1 x 0501 and DQBH1 x 0601 may be more relevant to a resistance to the disease.