Relationship of HLA antigens and cryoglobulinaemia in hepatitis C virus infected patients.

OBJECTIVE To find the relationship between human leukocyte antigens (HLA) and cryoglobulin positivity in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected individuals. METHODS Eligible individuals selected from pre and post renal transplant settings were divided into three groups. Group A (n = 301) consisted of normal controls, while group B (n = 200) comprised of pathological controls that were HCV antibody (anti-HCV) positive but negative for cryoglobulins. Group C comprised of 56 anti-HCV positive, cryoglobulin positive patients. HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 loci were typed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and relationship between HLA antigens, anti-HCV status and cryoglobulinaemia was analyzed. RESULTS HLA-A*02, -B*57 and -DRB1*03 were more frequently found among group C members as compared to groups A and B. Only HLA-B* 57 occurrence reached statistical significance (14.3% versus 6% and 4%, corrected P-value = 0.045 and 0.012 and OR = 2.6 and 4 respectively) No differences in the distribution of HLA antigens were seen among healthy and pathological controls. CONCLUSION The presence of HLA-B*57 confers susceptibility to cryoglobulinaemia in HCV infected patients in our population. HCV positive renal transplant recipients with these alleles should be monitored for cryoglobulin formation).