VARIANTS OF HLA-DR2 DR51 GROUP HAPLOTYPES AND SUSCEPTIBILITY TO TUBERCULOID LEPROSY AND PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS IN ASIAN INDIANS/

This study reports our observations on the correlation between HLA-DR2 subtypes and their DR-DQ haplotypes in patients with tuberculoid (TT) leprosy and pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). DRB11501 was significantly increased in patients with PTB (90%) as compared to controls (p < 0.0 5); whereas the prevalence of DRB11502 was significantly increased in patients with TT leprosy (p < 0.05), suggesting allele-specific bindi ng of the pathogen to form disease-causing motifs to the T-cell recept or. Among DR2-DQ haplotypes, the deviation was noted in the distributi on of unique and common haplotypes in patients with TT leprosy and PTB . A significant decrease of haplotype DRB11501-DRB5*0101-DQA1*0102-DQ B10502 in TT leprosy and a significant increase of DRB1*1501-DRB5*010 1-DQA10103-DQB1*0601 in PTB patients were observed. The occurrence of specific DR2 subtypes and their haplotypes in the two disease groups suggests their involvement in disease pathogenesis.