Frequencies of MICA alleles in patients from southern Brazil with multibacillary and paucibacillary leprosy.

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, which mainly affects the skin and nervous system. The disease has several clinical forms. This study investigated the MICA and HLA-B genes in 223 samples from leprosy patients and 201 samples from healthy individuals matched for age, gender and ethnical background. Of the patients, 153 had multibacillary, 45 paucibacillary and 25 indeterminate leprosy. The aim of this case-control study was to assess whether the MICA alleles influence susceptibility for leprosy or affect the subtype of the disease in a population of southern Brazil. There were significant differences in frequencies of the MICA*027 allele (4.7% vs 1.8%, P-value = 0.01, OR = 0.37; 95% CI = 0.16-0.85) between leprosy patients and controls, and of the MICA*010 (4.5% vs 1.6%, P-value = 0.05, OR = 0.35, 95% CI = 0.13-0.97) and MICA*027 alleles (4.7% vs 1.3%, P-value = 0.01; OR = 0.27; 95% CI = 0.09-0.79) between multibacillary leprosy patients and the control group. There were no significant differences in the frequency of MICA alleles between paucibacillary leprosy patients and controls. Thus, the MICA*027 allele is associated with a protective effect for leprosy per se, while the MICA*010 and MICA*027 alleles are associated with protection against multibacillary leprosy, the most severe clinical subtype.

Influence of class I and II HLA alleles on inhibitor development in severe haemophilia A patients from the south of Brazil.

Congenital haemophilia A is a chromosome-linked recessive disorder caused by the deficiency or reduction of factor VIII (FVIII) pro-coagulant activity. During treatment, some patients develop alloantibodies (FVIII inhibitors) that neutralize the action of exogenously administered FVIII. Currently, the presence of these inhibitors is the most serious adverse event found in replacement therapy. Some studies have suggested that genetic factors influence the development of the FVIII coagulation inhibitors. To identify the class I and II alleles that may be influencing the formation of inhibitors in severe haemophilic patients. Genotyping of the class I (HLA-A, -B and -C) and class II (HLA-DRB1, -DQA1 and -DQB1) alleles of 122 patients with severe haemophilia A, including 36 who had developed antibodies to factor VIII, was performed. After the comparison of the group without inhibitors and the group with inhibitors, HLA-C*16 [Odds ratio (OR) = 7.73; P = 0.0092] and HLA-DRB1*14 (OR = 4.52; P = 0.0174) were found to be positively associated with the formation of the inhibitors. These results confirm that HLA alleles are involved in inhibitor production and could be used as a tool for recognition of groups at high risk of possible inhibitor development in Southern Brazilian haemophilic patients.

Association between killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor genotypes and leprosy in Brazil.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genes in leprosy immunopathogenesis. Genotyping of KIR and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes was performed by polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes in 165 leprosy patients. Both activating KIR2DS2 and KIR2DS3 frequencies were higher in tuberculoid leprosy (TT) patients than in lepromatous leprosy (LL) patients, and the inhibitory KIR with its ligand, KIR2DL1-C2/C2, was elevated in TT patients in comparison to all other leprosy subgroups and controls. However, a negative association between KIR2DL3-C1 and KIR2DL3-C1/C1 and the TT group was identified. Borderline patients exhibited a higher frequency of KIR3DL2-A3/11 than the controls and LL patients, and a lower frequency of KIR2DL1-C2 than the controls and TT subgroup. Some KIR-HLA genotypes could be associated to the development of clinical forms of leprosy and should be investigated further.