HLA class I and class II polymorphism in the population of Rijeka, Croatia

The aim of the study was to examine frequencies of HLA-A, -B, -DR antigens and haplotypes in population of Rijeka and to compare them with general Croatian and European populations. The subjects were 117 unrelated healthy blood donors. The antigens with the highest frequencies were: A2 (27.2%), A9 (16.3%), B5 (14.8%), B12 (11.8%), B18 (11.8%), DR5 (21.6%) and DR6 (13.8%). Comparison of HLA antigens frequencies has shown statistically significant difference in 1 antigen with Croatian population and in 8 antigens with European population. The HLA haplotypes with high frequencies included HLA-A2, B5 (6.84%), HLA-A2, B12 (6.84%), HLA-A2, B18 (6.84%), HLA-B12, DR2 (9.78%) and HLA-B18, DR5 (6.84%). The antigen B5 showed strongest association with DR5 (6.41%; LD = 1.30) as in general Croatian and in some European populations. The results have shown great diversity of HLA haplotypes in Rijeka population which can be the result of admixture with neighborhood immigrating populations during the history.