Anis Sabiha, Muzaffar Rana, Zafar Mirza Naqi, Ahmed Ejaz, Fatima Kiran, Naqvi Syed Ali Anwar, Rizvi Syed Adibul Hasan
Department of Microbiology and Immunology,Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, Karachi. Pakistan.
J Pak Med Assoc. 2007 Jun;57(6):300-5.
To find the relationship between human leukocyte antigens (HLA) and cryoglobulin positivity in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected individuals.
Eligible individuals selected from pre and post renal transplant settings were divided into three groups. Group A (n = 301) consisted of normal controls, while group B (n = 200) comprised of pathological controls that were HCV antibody (anti-HCV) positive but negative for cryoglobulins. Group C comprised of 56 anti-HCV positive, cryoglobulin positive patients. HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 loci were typed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and relationship between HLA antigens, anti-HCV status and cryoglobulinaemia was analyzed.
HLA-A02, -B57 and -DRB103 were more frequently found among group C members as compared to groups A and B. Only HLA-B 57 occurrence reached statistical significance (14.3% versus 6% and 4%, corrected P-value = 0.045 and 0.012 and OR = 2.6 and 4 respectively) No differences in the distribution of HLA antigens were seen among healthy and pathological controls.
The presence of HLA-B*57 confers susceptibility to cryoglobulinaemia in HCV infected patients in our population. HCV positive renal transplant recipients with these alleles should be monitored for cryoglobulin formation).
