[Correlation between MHC class I-related chain A gene *008 allele and human cytomegalovirus infection]

To investigate the correlation between MHC class I-related chain A (MICA) gene *008 allele and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection.

MICA*008 allele was detected in 86 patients with chronic granulocytic leukemia and 81 unrelated normal individuals by way of sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP). Anti-HCMV IgM was also detected in the sera of these subjects with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

MICA*008 allele frequency was lower in patients with chronic granulocytic leukemia than in the control group (22.2% vs 34.3%, Chi(2)=4.98, P<0.05). The infection rate of HCMV was significantly higher in those individuals with genotype of MICA*008 (-) than in those with MICA*008 (+), and moderate correlation was suggested between MICA*008 and HCMV infection (C=0.5829, 0.6142).

Individuals with MICA*008 positivity is not liable to HCMV infection, but those with MICA*008 (-) can be vulnerable to HCMV infection, suggesting an inverse correlation between MICA*008 allele with HCMV.