HLA-B27 polymorphism associated with disease in a New Zealand population

Objectives: To characterise the subtypes of HLA-B27 in disease associated patients in the North Island of New Zealand. Methods: The subjects were 194 patients from the North Island of New Zealand. These had previously been positively tissue-typed for HLA-B27 owing to its associations with spondylarthropathies and anterior uveitis. The subjects gave informed consent to further testing of their samples, which were HLA-B27 subtyped using DNA sequence based typing. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using the chi square test with Yates’ correction and Pearson’s chi square test. Results: Nine different subtypes were described in this study. HLA-B*2701, B*2702, B*2704, B*2705, B*2706, B*2707, B*2709, B*2710 and B*2715. Within the study the prevalence of B*2704 was signifi cant in Asians (p<0.001) and the prevalence of B*2705 was signifi cant in Europeans (p<0.001). Of the three major subtypes identifi ed (B*2702, B*2704 and B*2705), none showed a statistical association to disease category. HLA-B27 homozygosity was not signifi cantly different to the healthy population (p=0.918). Conclusions: HLA-B27 subtypes were analysed in disease associated patients of the New Zealand North Island population. The subtypes found refl ected the HLA-B27 subtypes found in previous studies of the different ethnicities involved.