BOTH HLA-B-ASTERISK-1301 AND B-ASTERISK-1302 EXIST IN ASIAN POPULATIONS AND ARE ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENT HAPLOTYPES

A B13 split antigen was newly identified with three alloantisera in Ja panese, and two B13 split antigens were found in a Thai family. To con firm the variation of B13 and understand the correspondence between th e serologic splits and the published B13 alleles, B()1301 and B(*)130 2, we determined the sequences of genes coding for these B13 splits. T he common Japanese B13 allele was found to be B()1301, whereas anothe r split antigen was shown to be coded by B()1302. Two B13 variants id entified in a Thai individual corresponded to B()1301 and B(*)1302. M oreover, 57 B13-positive samples from several ethnic groups were exami ned using the PCR-SSO method. Differing from previous reports, both B( )1301 and B(*)1302 were found in samples from Asian populations. Thes e two alleles were separately associated with different antigens: HLA- B()1301 exhibited a strong association with A2, Cw10, DR12, and DQ7 a ntigens, whereas HLA-B()1302 was strongly associated with A30, Cw6, D R7, and DQ2 antigens. In addition, applying the PCR-SSCP method, B()1 301 and B()1302 could also be simply distinguished from each other.