HLA class I and H ferritin gene polymorphisms in normal subjects and patients with haemochromatosis

The gene for idiopathic haemochromatosis is located on the short arm of chromosome 6 within 1 cM of the HLA-A locus. In this region there are many HLA class I genes, and there may also be a gene for the 'H' subunit of ferritin. Both HLA class I and H ferritin genes are therefore candidates for the abnormal gene in idiopathic haemochromatosis. In 15 unrelated patients the frequency of HLA-A3 was 80% compared with 24% for 600 unrelated individuals from South Wales. The most common haplotype involved is probably HLA-A3, B7. DNA was prepared from leucocytes from 12 of these patients and from 85 normal subjects. After digestion with Taq1, electrophoresis, and Southern blotting, class I sequences were detected by hybridisation to an HLA class I probe (pHLA-A). Of the 34 restriction fragments detected, 22 were polymorphic. Particular fragments correlated with the presence of HLA-A antigens A1, 2, 3, 10, 11, w19, and 28, but there was little correlation with B antigens. Restriction fragment patterns specific for haemochromatosis were not found with TaqI or during less extensive studies with other restriction enzymes. No differences in restriction fragment patterns were found between four patients and four normal subjects apparently homozygous for HLA-A3 and B7. Examination of Southern blotting patterns for genomic DNA from patients and normal subjects with a panel of 12 restriction enzymes and a probe for the H ferritin gene (pDBR-2) revealed no polymorphisms associated with either idiopathic haemochromatosis or particular HLA phenotypes. These studies provide no support for either HLA class I genes or the H ferritin gene as candidates for the haemochromatosis gene.