Relation of HLA-A, -B, -DRB1 alleles and haplotypes in patients with acute leukemia: a case control study

A relationship between acute leukemia and HLA alleles has been demonstrated in several studies. However, the frequencies of HLA class I (A, B) and class II (DRB1) alleles and haplotypes has not already been determined in Turkish patients with acute leukemia.

We investigated the relation of the HLA alleles and haplotypes in 237 adult acute leukemia patients [103 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 134 acute myeloid leukemia, (AML)] and 360 unrelated normal subjects by PCR-SSOP method using Luminex technology.

Allele frequencies of HLA-A*03, and B*51 were higher in patients with AML compared with the controls (p = 0.019, and p = 0.001; respectively). Furthermore, HLA-A*11 and DRB1*01 allele frequencies were determined to be higher in patients with ALL (p = 0.01, p = 0.001; respectively), whereas DRB1*13 allele frequencies lower than controls (p = 0.003). The most observed haplotypes A*03 B*51 DRB1*11 (3.73 vs. 0%) in patients with AML; A*02 B*35 DRB1*01 (2.91 vs. 0%) and A*02 B*51 DRB1*11 (2.91 vs. 1.96%) in patients with ALL were determined. On the contrary, the most observed haplotype was A*02 B*35 DRB1*13 (2.19%) in the controls. We found A*02 B*39 DRB1*16 haplotype negatively associated with AML, whereas A*02 B*35 DRB1*13 was in ALL (p = 0.015, and p = 0.017; respectively).

These results suggest that HLA-A*03 and B*51 alleles may play a presumptive predisposing factor in AML. In addition, HLA-A*11 and DRB*01 alleles have been found to be associated with ALL, whereas DRB1*13 allele was determined to be negatively associated.