Polymorphism of HLA class I genes in Meizhou Han population of Guangdong, China.

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is an invaluable marker for anthropological studies because of its extreme polymorphism. Most of the studies carried out in Chinese populations are about HLA class II genes, but few about class I genes. In the present study, we investigated HLA class I polymorphism using polymerase chain reaction-sequencing-based typing (PCR-SBT) method in 104 unrelated Han individuals in Meizhou of Guangdong, southern China. Twenty-three HLA-A, 43 HLA-B and 27 HLA-C alleles were identified and allele frequencies and two-locus (C/B) and three-locus (A/C/B) haplotypes were statistically analysed. The most frequent HLA-A allele is A110101 with a frequency of 30.3%, followed by A24020101 (22.2%) and A2420 (11.6%). Among the 43 detected HLA-B alleles, B5801 (17.0%), B400101 (15.5%) and B4601 (10.0%) were frequently observed. Among the 27 detected C alleles, the most predominant one is Cw07020101 (25.8%), followed by Cw0717 (14.7%). The most frequent HLA-C/B two-locus haplotype is Cw07020101/B400101 (10.1%). The most common HLA-A/C/B three-locus haplotype in Meizhou Han is A110101/Cw07020101/B*400101 (3.4%). Phylogenetic tree based on HLA class I allele frequencies genetically suggested that Meizhou Han has an affinity to southern Asian populations. The result may also reflect an admixture of Han and ethnic minorities of southern China.