HLA CLASS-II ANTIGENS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH RESISTANCE OR SUSCEPTIBILITY TO HEPATOSPLENIC DISEASE IN A CHINESE POPULATION INFECTED WITH SCHISTOSOMA-JAPONICUM

TThe major histocompatibility Class II alleles of 108 individuals livi ng in an area endemic for schistosomiasis japonica in China were deter mined to identify possible immunogenetic associations with advanced sc histosomiasis, Two alleles, HLA-DRB11202 (P = 0.002) and HLA-DQA1*060 1 (P = 0.001) were strongly associated with resistance to advanced dis ease. In contrast, HLA-DQB105031 (P = 0.07) was associated with susce ptibility to advanced schistosomiasis. The remaining alleles showed no association with advanced disease. Allele DRB11202 co-occurred with allele DQA10601; therefore, their independent protective effects coul d not be ascertained. In contrast, alleles DQA10601 and DQB1*05031 ne ver co-occurred and had opposite and significant effects on the occurr ence of disease. (C) 1998 Australian Society for Parasitology. Publish ed by Elsevier Science Ltd.