HUMAN-LEUKOCYTE ANTIGEN ALLELES AND HAPLOTYPES ASSOCIATED WITH SELECTIVE IMMUNOGLOBULIN-A DEFICIENCY IN SPANISH PEDIATRIC-PATIENTS

Class I and II human leukocyte antigens were determined by a standard microlymphocytotoxity test in a group of 45 pediatric patients with se lective immunoglobulin A deficiency (IgA-D), 33 of them with frequent respiratory tract infections, allergic diseases, or gastrointestinal d isorders (RTIAG), and 12 with celiac disease (CD). The results showed that the DR1 allele, and the A1,B8,Cw7,DR3,DQw2; B35,Cw4,DR1,DQw1; and B14,DRI,DQw1 haplotypes could be involved with IgA-D susceptibility i n RTIAG patients. Among the CD-IgA-D group, the B14 allele and A1,B8,C w7,DR3,DQw2 haplotype were found to confer a high risk of developing I gA-D. A possible protective role may be postulated for DR2 and DR4 in both types of IgA-D patients. The present study confirms some of the p revious findings in other white populations and describes new possible alleles and haplotypes that could be implicated with IgA-D susceptibi lity and resistance.