Susceptibility to type 1 diabetes in the Senegalese population is linked to HLA-DQ and not TAP and LMP genes.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the frequency of the transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) and large multifunctional protease (LMP) alleles and their role in the susceptibility to type 1 diabetes, in comparison with the well-known HLA-DQ alleles susceptibility, in Senegalese subjects.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Three loci in the TAP/LMP region were analyzed in 92 type 1 diabetic subjects and 117 nondiabetic control subjects by means of polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).

RESULTS

No association was found between the studied polymorphisms of TAP1, TAP2, and LMP2 and type 1 diabetes in the Senegalese population, in contrast to the HLA-DQA1 and DQB1 genes, which were associated with type 1 diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS

Diabetogenic genes in the class II HLA region are located near the DQA1 and DQB1 loci rather than the TAP and LMP loci.