Genetic Factors of Low-responsiveness to Hepatitis B Virus Vaccine Confirms the Importance of Human Leukocyte Antigen Class II Types in a Japanese Young Adult Population.

We investigated the genetic mechanisms underlying the association between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) types and the immune response to hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination in 84 healthy Japanese adults, and found that the HLA-DRB1＊04 and HLA-DQB1＊03 frequencies were higher in the low responders (<10 mIU/ml; n=9, 10.7%) compared to the responders (≥10 mIU/ml, n=75, 89.3%). The combination of DRB1＊04 and DQB1＊03 was associated with a low response to vaccination. The DRB1＊04 and DQB1＊03 haplotypes' frequencies were significantly higher in the low responders compared to responders. Novel candidate HLA types may be important in Japanese individuals.