Association analysis of human leukocyte antigen class II (DRB1) alleles with leprosy in individuals from São Luís, state of Maranhão, Brazil

• Published in: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 2012-12, Vol.107 Suppl 1 (suppl 1), p.150-155
• Main Authors: Corrêa, Rita da Graça Carvalhal Frazão, de Aquino, Dorlene Maria Cardoso, Caldas, Arlene de Jesus Mendes, Serra, Humberto de Oliveira, Silva, Fábio França, Ferreira, Maxwellem de Jesus Costa, Santos, Elton Jonh Freitas, Mesquita, Emygdia Rosa Rêgo Barros Pires Leal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Alleles; association study; Brazil; Case-Control Studies; Child; Female; Gene Frequency; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; HLA-DRB1 Chains - genetics; HLA-DRB1 gene; Humans; leprosy; Leprosy - genetics; Leprosy - immunology; Leukocytes - immunology; Male; Middle Aged; PARASITOLOGY; TROPICAL MEDICINE; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0074-0276; 1678-8060; 1678-8060; 0074-0276
• DOI: 10.1590/S0074-02762012000900022

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that the variability of the clinical response to infection caused by Mycobacterium leprae is associated with host genetic factors. The present study investigated the frequency of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II (DRB1) alleles in patients with leprosy from São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil. A case-control study was performed in 85 individuals with leprosy and 85 healthy subjects. All samples were analysed via polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific oligonucleotide probes. The HLA-DRB1*16 allele showed a higher frequency in the group with leprosy [(9.41% vs. 4.12%) odds ratio (OR) = 2.41 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.96-6.08) p = 0.05], whereas the HLA-DRB1*11 allele was less frequent in the group with leprosy [(6.47% vs. 11.76%) OR = 0.51 95% CI (0.23-1.12) p = 0.09]. The frequency of HLA-DRB1* alleles between the control group and leprosy patient subgroups presenting different forms of the disease showed that the HLA-DRB1*16 (16.13% vs. 8.24%, OR = 4.10, CI = 1.27-13.27, p = 0.010) and HLA-DRB1*14 (5% vs. 3.53%, OR = 4.63, CI = 1.00-21.08, p = 0.032) alleles were significantly more frequent in patients with different clinical subtypes of leprosy. The sample size was a limitation in this study. Nevertheless, the results demonstrated the existence of a genetic susceptibility associated with the clinical forms of leprosy. The low frequency of the HLA-DRB1*11 allele should be further studied to investigate the possible protective effect of this allele.