APPLICATION OF AN HLA-B PCR-SSOP TYPING METHOD TO A BONE-MARROW DONORREGISTRY

A previously reported HLA-B PCR-SSOP typing method has been applied to those individuals, from the local bone marrow registry, with only one detectable HLA-B antigen by serology, The PCR-SSOP method detected th e serologically defined HLA-B antigen in all cases, In addition, PCR-S SOP detected the presence of a second HLA-B allele in 19.9% of these i ndividuals, The method was also applied to all individuals where serol ogy could only determine the HLA-B antigen as a broad specificity, All antigens were split by the PCR-SSOP method, indicating that the metho d is more specific than serology, Using a combination of PCR-SSOP and serologically determined types for 5000 individuals on the local bone marrow registry, HLA-B frequencies for the Northern Ireland population have been calculated.