Genotyping of HPA-1 to -7 and -15 in the Thai population using multiplex PCR.

BACKGROUND

Different polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques for human platelet antigens (HPA) genotyping have been implemented, in order to diagnose the clinical syndromes of patients with thrombocytopaenia and provide effective HPA-matched platelet donors.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study is to develop an in-house multiplex PCR for HPA-1 to -7 and -15 genotyping in the Thai population.

METHODS

One hundred DNA samples of known HPA genotyping by the PCR with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP), as previously described, were tested with the multiplex PCR. Additionally, 300 DNA samples of group O donors were tested for HPA-1 to -7 and -15 genotyping using multiplex PCR.

RESULTS

The comparison of HPA-1 to -7 and -15 genotype results between multiplex PCR and PCR-SSP technique was in 100% concordance. Interestingly, HPA-2b2b genotype was found in two samples; however, other low-incidence genotypes such as HPA-1b1b, HPA-5b5b, HPA-6b6b and HPA-7b7b were not found in this study. Moreover, 30 samples were randomly tested twice for HPA genotyping using the multiplex PCR and demonstrated reproducible results.

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows that the in-house multiplex PCR is simple, cost-effective and suitable for HPA genotyping for routine laboratories in other developing countries. Nevertheless, a large-scale evaluation of this technique through multicentre analysis is suggested.