Association between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD): a meta-analysis

We recently studied the association between various human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles and end-stage renal disease (ESRD). According to our analysis, HLA-B*50 and HLA-DQA1*3 alleles were positively associated with ESRD, while B*40, DRB1*12, DRB1*13, and DQA1*6 alleles were negatively associated with ESRD. However, a single case-control study does not have enough statistical power to evaluate the possible impact of genetic polymorphism on any disease. Hence, the main objective of this meta-analysis is to determine the association between these abovementioned HLA alleles and ESRD.

MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases were searched through December 2020 for case-control studies on the associations between HLA polymorphisms and ESRD. Independent reviewers screened the texts of potentially eligible studies and assessed the risk of bias. The meta-analysis was conducted based on the checklists and guidelines based on PRISMA.

We identified 26 case-control studies comprising 1,312 ESRD and 3,842 healthy subjects. A non-significant positive association was observed between HLA-B*50 (OR = 1.02, 95% CI [0.90, 1.24]), HLA-B*40 (OR = 1.75, 95% CI [0.98, 3.2]), HLA-DQA1*3, (OR = 1.17, 95% CI [0.74, 1.84]), DRB1*12 (OR = 1.05, 95% CI [0.94, 1.18]) alleles and ESRD. In addition, a non-significant negative association was observed between HLA-DRB1*13 (OR = 0.90, CI [0.81, 1.01]), HLA-DQB1*6 (OR = 0.79, 95% CI [0.58, 1.07]) alleles and ESRD.

Our meta-analysis indicates no significant association between HLA-B*50, HLA-DQA1*3, B*40, DRB1*12, DRB1*13, and DQA1*6 alleles and ESRD. Further studies with larger sample sizes and adjustments for confounders are required to confirm these conclusions.