THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN HLA CLASS-I ALLELES AND MEASLES VACCINE-INDUCED ANTIBODY-RESPONSE - EVIDENCE OF A SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATION

While the Moraten strain measles vaccine is an excellent, safe, and im munogenic vaccine, vaccine failure occurs, presumably when an individu al develops an inadequate immune response. In this study, we examined the association of HLA class I genes and measles vaccine-induced antib ody levels. We found that the allele distribution of HLA-B alleles dif fered between non-responders and hyper-responders (p = 0.002). Sever n l class I alleles were associated with non-response (HLA-B13, -B44, an d -C5); whereas several other alleles were associated with hyper-respo nse (HLA-B7 and -B51). In addition, non-responders were more likely to be HLA-B homozygous than normal responders (odds ratio 2.1), and more likely to be homozygous than hyper-responders (odds ratio 3.7, p = 0. 031 Mantel-Haenzel for trend). Finally,, we found evidence of an allel e dose-response phenomenon for HLA-B7. We conclude that there are impo rtant associations between class I HLA genes and measles antibody leve ls following immunization. (C)1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights re served.