HLA and Aplastic Anemia: associations In Large Brazilian Cohorts

• Published in: Blood 2013-11, Vol.122 (21), p.1237-1237
• Main Authors: Salvino, Marco Aurelio, Medeiros, Larissa A, Moura, Alessandro, Batista, Marianna, Goncalves, Marilda Souza, Mezes, Eliane, Santos, Luciano, Arruda, Gloria Bomfim, Pereira, Noemi Farah, Cerqueira, Bruno A.V., Schittini, Anelisa, Botura, Monica, Fernandes Schriefer, Ana Luzia, Oliveira, Michel M, Funke, Vaneuza A M, Pasquini, Ricardo, Scheinberg, Phillip, Meyer, Roberto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0006-4971; 1528-0020
• DOI: 10.1182/blood.V122.21.1237.1237

Aplastic anemia (AA) is perceived as an immune mediated disease where T-lymphocytes recognize and destroy bone marrow elements leading to varying degrees of failure of hematopoiesis. Many autoimmune diseases have been linked to certain HLA alleles and such a relationship has been also been reported in AA. Expansion of CD8+ oligoclones has been reported in AA and likely contributes to pathogenesis. However, the interaction of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and their targets mediated by human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and II peptides remain elusive. Thus, it has been speculated that polymorphic loci of these genes could be implicated in the susceptibility to the disease. Various alleles and haplotypes of HLA molecules have been implicated in the predisposition of AA development. The influence of HLA has been studied in North America, European and Asian countries. Data from Latin America, where there is a large mixture of Hispanic, European, and African descendants, is still lacking. This study focuses on the association between HLA alleles in AA patients in different regions of Brazil with particular ethnic groups. From 2000 to 2013, all patients with a diagnosis of acquired AA in the Brazilian state of Bahia (BA) followed at the Federal University of Bahia Hospital/ Foundation Hemoba who tested the HLA typing were included, totaling 215 patients. In this northeast region there is a predominance of African descendant (25% white, 75% brown/black). The genes in the analysis included HLA A, B, DR and DQ. SPSS was used to statistical calculations. Qui-square test/Fisher test were using the p-value correction of Bonferroni (p significant