HLA association with hepatitis C virus infection

Hepatitis is one of the most important infectious diseases in Thailand. The knowledge of host factors that influence the course of the disease is stil l limited. In this study. the HLA class I and class II phenotypes were anal yzed in the 2 groups of HCV-infected Thai populations. The first group incl uded 43 individuals with transient HCV infection (HCV antibody positive, HC V RNA PCR negative), and the second included 57 individuals with persistent chronic HCV infection (HCV antibody positive, PCR positive). HLA class I t yping was performed by 2-stage microlymphocytotoxicity rest, and HLA class II typing, by PCR-SSO. No significant difference in the frequencies of HLA- A anti -B antigens was observed between the 2 groups of HCV infected indivi duals. The frequency of DRB1*0301 and DQB1*0201 was significantly higher in the persistent-infection group than in the transient-infection group (Pc = 0.03, Pc = 0.04 respectively). In addition, DRB1*0701 and DQA1*0201 were s ignificantly decreased in all the HCV-infected patients compared with level s in che normal controls (Pc = 0.003, Pc = 0.001, respectively). This study demonstrated that DRB1*0301 and DQB1*0201 are associated with persistent H CV infection, whereas DRB1*0701 and DQA*0201 are associated with protection against HCV infection. (C) American Society for Histocompatibility and Imm unogenetics, 2000. Published by Elsevier Science Inc.