HLA class I typing by PCR: HLA-B27 and an African B27 subtype

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) 1991-03, Vol.337 (8742), p.640-642
• Main Authors: Hill, A.V.S., Allsopp, C.E.M., McMichael, A.J., Kwiatkowski, D., Anstey, N.M., Greenwood, B.M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; African Continental Ancestry Group - genetics; Alleles; Ankylosing spondylitis; Antigens; Arthritis; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Cytotoxicity; Disease; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; Gambia; Genetics; Histocompatibility antigen HLA; Histocompatibility Testing - methods; HLA-B27 Antigen - analysis; HLA-B27 Antigen - classification; Humans; Hybridization; Infections; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Medical research; Molecular immunology; Molecular Sequence Data; Nucleic Acid Hybridization; Oligonucleotides; Polymerase chain reaction; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Serology; Spondylitis; Techniques; Tissue typing
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/0140-6736(91)92452-8

We describe a rapid method of HLA class I typing using the polymerase chain reaction and oligonucleotide hybridisation that eliminates the requirements for viable lymphocytes and allows subtypes to be defined. We have used this to demonstrate that the predominant subtype of H LA-B27 in the Gambia, West Africa, is HLA-B*2703, which is very rare or absent in other racial groups. This subtype differs from the common Caucasian HLA-B27 subtypes in its recognition by cytotoxic T cells. We propose that HLA*B-2703, unlike other HLA-B27 subtypes, may not be associated with ankylosing spondylitis, thus accounting in part for the rarity of this condition in black populations.