Yengo Clauvis Kunkeng, Torimiro Judith, Kowo Mathurin, Lebon Patrick Awoumou, Tiedeu Barbara Atogho, Luma Henry, Njoya Oudou, Rowland-Jones Sarah, Yindom Louis-Marie
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Molecular Biology Laboratory, Chantal Biya International Reference Centre for Research on Prevention and Management of HIV/AIDS (CIRCB), Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Heliyon. 2020 Oct 15;6(10):e05232. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05232. eCollection 2020 Oct.
The Human Leucocyte Antigens (HLA) work in concert with other immune factors to modulate immunity to viral infections. Extensive variation has been reported in the genetic sequences and functions of classical HLA class I genes in many (mostly Western) populations, and several HLA associations with infectious disease outcomes have been reported. Little is known about their role in the susceptibility or resistance to hepatitis viruses in Central African populations. The aim of this study was to determine variants of two HLA class I genes (HLA-A and -C) in adults infected with hepatitis B (HBV)- or -C (HCV) virus in Cameroon. In this case-control study, a total of 169 unrelated adults comprising 68 HCV-infected, 38 HBV-infected and 63 uninfected (controls) individuals participated. Each consented participant was screened for HBV, HCV, and HIV infections and willingly donated a single blood sample for genomic DNA isolation and some clinical laboratory tests. HLA-A and HLA-C were genotyped using previously described sequence-based techniques (SBT). A total of 54 HLA alleles were identified in the study population (27 HLA-A and 27 HLA-C). HLA-A∗23:01 and HLA-C∗07:01 were the most common alleles with genotype frequencies of 31.4% and 29.3%, respectively. Hepatitis individuals were six times more likely to be HLA-A∗30:01 carriers than uninfected controls (OR = 6.30, p = 0.020 (HBV); OR = 6.21, p = 0.010 (HCV), respectively). Similarly, carriers of HLA-C∗17:01 were over-represented in the HBV-infected compared to the uninfected control group (21.9% vs. 6.4%, respectively) suggesting that this allele could play a role in the susceptibility to HBV infection. These findings demonstrate that carriers of HLA-A∗30:01 were over-represented in the hepatitis group compared to uninfected controls while HLA-C∗17:01 was completely absent in the HCV + group.
人类白细胞抗原（HLA）与其他免疫因子协同作用，调节对病毒感染的免疫力。在许多（主要是西方）人群中，经典HLA I类基因的遗传序列和功能存在广泛变异，并且已经报道了几种HLA与传染病结局的关联。关于它们在中非人群对肝炎病毒的易感性或抵抗力中的作用知之甚少。本研究的目的是确定喀麦隆感染乙型肝炎（HBV）或丙型肝炎（HCV）病毒的成年人中两个HLA I类基因（HLA-A和-C）的变体。在这项病例对照研究中，共有169名无亲缘关系的成年人参与，其中包括68名HCV感染者、38名HBV感染者和63名未感染者（对照组）。每个同意参与的参与者都接受了HBV、HCV和HIV感染筛查，并自愿捐献一份血液样本用于基因组DNA分离和一些临床实验室检测。使用先前描述的基于序列的技术（SBT）对HLA-A和HLA-C进行基因分型。在研究人群中总共鉴定出54个HLA等位基因（27个HLA-A和27个HLA-C）。HLA-A∗23:01和HLA-C∗07:01是最常见的等位基因，基因型频率分别为31.4%和29.3%。肝炎患者携带HLA-A∗30:01的可能性是未感染对照组的6倍（OR = 6.30，p = 0.020（HBV）；OR = 6.21，p = 0.010（HCV））。同样，与未感染对照组相比，HLA-C∗17:01携带者在HBV感染者中占比过高（分别为21.9%和6.4%），这表明该等位基因可能在HBV感染易感性中起作用。这些发现表明，与未感染对照组相比，HLA-A∗30:01携带者在肝炎组中占比过高，而HLA-C∗17:01在HCV+组中完全不存在。
