Relationship between Human Leukocyte Antigen Determinants and Courses of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Caucasian Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease

Abstract

Background: Divergent results have been reported with regard to the relationship between the course of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) determinants. The aim of the present study was to investigate the phenotype frequencies of HLA class-I and -II alleles in Caucasians with and without HBV infection. Methods: Fifty-eight patients with persistent HBV infection (group 1), 119 patients with resolved HBV infection (group 2), and 106 patients neither infected by HBV nor vaccinated against HBV (group 3) were analyzed. All patients had end-stage renal disease. HLA class-I antigens were serologically determined. For HLA class-II typing we performed DRB1, DQA1, and DQB1 genotyping using a polymerase chain reaction-sequence-specific oligonucleotide procedure. Results: Compared with group 2, group 1 showed increased frequencies of HLA-B8, DR3 (P < 0.05), A30, DQA1^*0501 (P < 0.01), and a decreased frequency of HLA-B12 (P < 0.05). Decreased frequencies of HLA-B27, B40, DR13, and DQ1^*0604 (P < 0.05) and an increased frequency of HLA-B35 (P < 0.05) were found in groups 1 and 2 compared with controls (group 3). None of the differences detected in the phenotype frequencies of HLA alleles were statistically significant after correction. Conclusions: We conclude that the susceptibility to HBV infection and the different courses of HBV infection are not strongly related to HLA status in Caucasians.

Key Words:

• End-stage renal disease
• hepatitis B
• human leukocyte antigen