HLA-B27 in the Greek Cypriot population: distribution of subtypes in patients with ankylosing spondylitis and other HLA-B27-related diseases. The possible protective role of B*2707

Hum Immunol. 2004 Dec;65(12):1451-4. doi: 10.1016/j.humimm.2004.08.177.

Abstract

The major purpose of the present study was to investigate the frequency of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 alleles in healthy controls and in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and other HLA-B27-related diseases in the Greek Cypriot population. We selected 102 HLA-B27-positive individuals (60 controls and 42 patients). Typing of the HLA-B27 alleles was performed by polymerase chain reaction amplification with sequence-specific primers. Only two alleles were detected in the patient group: B*2702 (n = 31, 73.8%) and B*2705 (n = 11, 26.2%). The HLA-B*2707 allele was detected (n = 10, 16.7%) only in the healthy controls in addition to the B*2702 (n = 31, 51.7%) and B*2705 (n = 19, 31.7%) alleles. Our results show a restricted number of HLA-B27 subtypes associated with AS and other B27-related diseases and an elevated frequency of the B*2702 allele in the AS patients. The allele B*2707 seems to have a protective role in the population studied because it was found only in the healthy controls.

MeSH terms

  • Alleles
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Ethnicity / genetics
  • Female
  • Gene Frequency
  • Greece
  • HLA-B27 Antigen / classification
  • HLA-B27 Antigen / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Spondylarthropathies / genetics
  • Spondylarthropathies / immunology
  • Spondylitis, Ankylosing / genetics*
  • Spondylitis, Ankylosing / immunology*

Substances

  • HLA-B27 Antigen