HLA in southern Thai-Muslims

Area of Science:

• Immunogenetics
• Population Genetics
• Molecular Anthropology

Background:

• Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) genes play a crucial role in immune response and are highly polymorphic.
• Understanding HLA allele frequencies in specific populations is vital for disease association studies and transplantation.
• Previous studies have characterized HLA profiles in various Thai ethnic groups, but data for Southern Thai-Muslims (STM) is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the HLA class I and II allele and haplotype frequencies in a Southern Thai-Muslim population from Nakhon Si Thammarat province.
• To compare the genetic diversity of STM with other Thai populations.

Main Methods:

• Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) class I and II typing was performed on 102 Southern Thai-Muslim individuals.
• Sequence-Specific Priming Amplification Refractory Mutation System (SSP ARMS-PCR) was used for HLA class I.
• Polymerase Chain Reaction Sequence-Specific Oligonucleotide (PCR-SSO) was employed for HLA class II.

Main Results:

• Identified frequent HLA alleles including A*24, A*11, A*02, B*15, B*07, B*51/B*52, Cw*07, Cw*04, Cw*08 for class I, and DRB1*1202, DRB1*15021, DRB1*0701, DRB3*0301, DRB5*0101, DQA1 alleles, DQB1*0301, DQB1*0501, DQB1*0201, and DPB1 alleles for class II.
• Found two common HLA class I and II haplotypes with significant linkage disequilibrium: A*24-Cw*08-B*15-DRB1*1202 and A*33-Cw*0302-B*5801-DQB1*0201.
• Observed the absence of B*27 and DRB1*1401, presence of A*2301, and a high frequency of A*68 in the STM.

Conclusions:

• A distinct genetic profile for HLA class I and II alleles and haplotypes was established for the Southern Thai-Muslim population.
• The genetic diversity of STM shows closer relatedness to the Chanthaburi (CT) population compared to the Northeast (NET) population.
• These findings contribute to the understanding of Thai population genetics and have implications for future immunogenetic research.