HLA-DPB1 alleles in a population from north India and description of a new variant (DPB1*5601)

HLA-DPB1 alleles were studied in 51 normal individuals and 93 leprosy patients from North India using a PCR-oligotyping technique. Hybridization patterns could identify 47 alleles of which 20 were found in the population studied. DPB1*0401 was found to be the most frequent allele with a frequency of 66.7% followed by DPB1*0402 (21.6%), DPB1*0201 (21.6%), DPB1*1301 (15.7%) and DPB1*0301 (13.7%). Besides the common alleles, DPB1*0101, *1701, *2601, *1001, *1601, *0901, *2901, *1501, *0501, *1401, and *3301 were observed at low frequencies. DPB1*2101, DPB1*2801, DPB1*3201 and DPB1*3501 were not found in the normal individuals studied but were observed in the group of leprosy patients. DPB1*0202, *0601, *0801 and *1101 were not found in this population. Two alleles with apparent new hybridization patterns were isolated and sequenced. The nucleotide sequences obtained have confirmed the hybridization patterns. One of them (DPB1*4601) confirms a sequence recently reported. The other has been given the official designation of DPB1*5601.