01780nas a2200349   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001200055653001400067653001100081653002000092653002000112653001100132653001200143653000900155653001600164100001500180700001700195700001200212700001400224700001500238700001300253700001500266700001200281245007100293856005700364300000900421490000700430050001500437520096400452022001401416       2008                            d  c2008 Jan10aAlleles10aArgentina10aFemale10aHLA-DR Antigens10aHLA-DRB1 Chains10aHumans10aleprosy10aMale10aMiddle Aged1 aBorrás SG1 aCotorruelo C1 aRacca L1 aRecarte M1 aGarcías C1 aBiondi C1 aBottasso O1 aRacca A00aAssociation of leprosy with HLA-DRB1 in an Argentinean population.  uhttp://acb.sagepub.com/content/45/1/96.full.pdf+html  a96-80 v45  aBORRAS20083 a<p><b>BACKGROUND: </b>Previous studies have suggested an influence of HLA molecules on the regulation of the anti Mycobacterium leprae immune response.</p><p><b>METHODS: </b>DNA typing of HLA-DRB1 alleles in 71 leprosy patients and 81 healthy controls was performed. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood and used as a template to amplify the polymorphic second exon of the HLA-DRB1 by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR products were hybridized separately with sequence-specific oligonucleotides.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>DRB1*1401 and DRB1*1406 alleles were significantly more prevalent in leprosy patients, whereas a decreased frequency of DRB1*0808 and DRB1*1103 alleles was found, by comparison with the group control.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS: </b>The HLA-DRB1 alleles could act alone or in combination with other genes to confer differential susceptibility and also protection to leprosy disease in endemic areas of the American continent.</p>  a0004-5632