Objective: To investigate the association of Killer cell immunoglobin-like receptor (KIR) gene and KIRs'ligand (HLA-C) gene polymorphisms with type 1 diabetes (T1DM).
Methods: Using polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer (PCR-SSP) to detect KIR and HLA-C genotype in 180 T1DM patients and 199 healthy controls from Hunan Han population.
Results: (1) The frequencies of KIR 2DL1 (98.9% vs 92.0%, OR = 7.78, P = 0.002), 3DL1 (94.3% vs 86.4%, OR = 2.67, P = 0.009) and 2DS4 (83.9% vs 70.9%, OR = 2.14, P = 0.003) were significantly higher in T1DM patients than those in the controls. (2) There were no differences in the frequencies of HLA-C1 and HLA-C2 between the patients and the controls, but the frequency of HLAC1+/C2+ (3.9% vs 9.6%, OR = 0.38, P = 0.03) was significantly lower in the T1DM patients. (3) The combination KIR2DL1-/HLA-C2-(0.6% vs 6.0%, OR = 0.087, P = 0.003) and KIR 2DS1-/HLA-C2-(53.3% vs 64.8%, OR = 0.62, P = 0.023) was significantly lower in the T1DM patients.
Conclusion: The KIR gene polymorphism and KIR/HLA-C gene compatibility are associated with T1DM.