BACKGROUND Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles code for proteins that are involved in the recognition of foreign antigens and activation of the immune system. The frequency of HLA alleles varies across different populations. OBJECTIVE To describe the frequency of HLA alleles in a population of Inuit women of Nunavik, Quebec, Canada. DESIGN A cohort of women was recruited from 4 different ...

It has been speculated that human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles are associated with the outcome of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection although the data obtained from various populations have shown some inconsistencies. A total of 464 HBVinfected Korean individuals (80 spontaneously recovered [SR] and 384 chronically infected [CI]) were selected to investigate the association of HLA class II al...

Cervical cancer is a multifactorial disease and infection by oncogenic human papilloma viruses represents the main environmental risk factor. Only a subset of infections becomes persistent and develops into cancer, implying that genetic susceptibility factors are needed for malignant progression. Here, we use a population-based cohort of affected sib-pairs (ASPs) to examine the role of the huma...

OBJECTIVE Some type 1 diabetic patients have a distinct phenotype characterized by the absence of pancreatic autoantibodies and fulminant clinical symptoms at onset, including marked hyperglycemia, severe diabetic ketoacidosis, and normal to near-normal HbA(1c) levels with complete destruction of beta-cells. However, little is known about genetic factors of this distinct subtype of diabetes (fu...

Selective IgA deficiency (IgAD; serum IgA<0.07 g/l) is the most common form of human primary immune deficiency, affecting approximately 1∶600 individuals in populations of Northern European ancestry. The polygenic nature of IgAD is underscored by the recent identification of several new risk genes in a genome-wide association study. Among the characterized susceptibility loci, the association w...

26 Background. The frequency of autoantibodies against glutamic acid decarboxylase-65 27 (GAD65), and ICA512/IA2 (IA2) are a function of the specific human leukocyte antigen 28 (HLA) in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D). We investigated the association of HLA class II 29 (DR, DQ) alleles and haplotypes with the presence of GAD and IA-2 autoantibodies in T1D. 30 Methods. Autoantibodies were tested ...

BACKGROUND Recent studies have suggested the importance of HLA genes in determining immune responses following rubella vaccine. The telomeric class III region of the HLA complex harbors several genes, including lymphotoxin alpha (LTA), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and leukocyte specific transcript -1 (LST1) genes, located between the class I B and class II DRB1 loci. Apart from HLA, little is kn...

BACKGROUND Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disorder of neuromuscular junction characterized by skeletal muscle weakness and fatigability. Different genes may control the induction and clinical presentation of this disease. Various HLA alleles are reported as predisposing or protective genetic elements in myasthenia gravis. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the probable ass...

UNLABELLED Aims/Introduction:  Fulminant type 1 diabetes is a subtype of type 1 diabetes characterized by a remarkably abrupt onset of insulin-deficient hyperglycemia within a few days. The aim of the present study was to clarify characteristic class II HLA genotypes in a large number of patients with fulminant type 1 diabetes to date. MATERIALS AND METHODS   We analyzed the HLA-DRB1 and DQB1...