HLA CLASS-I POLYMORPHISM IN THE TUNISIAN POPULATION

The HLA class I gene polymorphism (HLA-A, -B) was investigated in a po pulation of 102 Tunisians. Allele and haplotype frequencies as well as linkage disequilibrium between HLA-A and HLA-B loci were calculated a nd compared with other populations. The most frequent alleles were A2 (23 %), A30 (12.5 %), A3 (10.2 %), Al (8.5 %), A23 (7.4, %) for the HL A-A locus and B21 (14.3 %), B44 (11.4 %), B35 (9.6 %), B5 (8.5 %) for the HLA-B locus. The most frequent haplotype was A3 B21 (2.6 %) and a positive linkage disequilibrium was found for the following allelic as sociations: All B35 (X(2) = 6.8), A28 B35 (X(2) = 5.3), and A30 B35 (X (2) = 5). In conclusion, a specific distribution of HLA class I compon ents in terms of antigen and haplotype frequencies characterizes the T unisian population. This specific pattern may reflect the great ethnic al diversity of this community. All these informations may be hepful i n the future for HLA and disease association studies.