Regional differences in HLA antigen and haplotype frequency distributions in Germany and their relevance to the optimization of hematopoietic stem cell donor recruitment.

We analyzed regional differences in human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A, -B, and -DR antigen and haplotype frequencies based on a sample of approximately 320,000 German donors in order to identify regions that are especially suited for ongoing stem cell donor recruitment. Geographic partitioning was carried out by postal code regions. Analysis of genetic distances suggests the existence of three regional clusters in South (regions 6-9), East (0-1), and Northwest (2-5) Germany. The southern cluster shows most favorable characteristics with respect to haplotypic and phenotypic diversity and the occurrence of rare HLA antigens. The opposite behavior is shown by regions 2-4 of the northwestern cluster. As a result of lower HLA diversity, completeness of a regional donor file in region 4 with 100,000 donors would be higher than that of a file in region 7 with 170,000 donors. This fact shows the relevance of regional HLA differences for practical donor registry planning. Results such as those presented in this work can be used to diminish the problem of decreasing marginal benefit of donor recruitment, as more than 13 million donors are registered worldwide today.