Association of HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12 gene polymorphism with COVID-19 in Burkina Faso.

BACKGROUND: The clinical manifestations of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can vary widely, ranging from asymptomatic to severe, and may be influenced by the host genetic background. The aim of the present study was to determine the frequencies of HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12 allele polymorphisms and their associations with COVID-19. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 198 subjects were enrolled, including 150 COVID-19 positive cases and 48 subjects who tested negative for COVID-19. Participants were recruited from the emergency, intensive care, and infectious diseases departments of the Bogodogo Centre University Hospital (CHU-B) or the routine laboratory of Centre de Recherche Biomoléculaire Pietro Annigoni (CERBA). Genomic DNA was extracted from nasopharyngeal swabs samples and multiplex PCR-SSP was used to detect the HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12 alleles. The study was approved by CERS (№ 2021-02-033). RESULTS: The positive cases were categorized into 38 asymptomatic (CC+), 60 symptomatic (NC+), and 52 severe cases (SC+). Females were more frequent in the overall study population (53.0%, 105/198) as well as in the negative group's CC- (68.75%, 33/48) and SC+ (57.69%, 30/52 negative groups, whereas males were more frequent in the CC+ (63.16%, 24/38) and NC+ (53.33%, 32/60) groups. The highest mean age was observed in the SC + group. A frequency of 19.19% (38/198) and 14.65% (29/198) was found for the HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12 alleles, respectively. Individuals carrying the HLA-DRB1*11 allele had an approximately sixfold higher risk of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR = 5.72 [1.683-19.442], p = 0.005) based on the association analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, the present study reports high frequency of HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12 alleles within a population from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The results suggest that individuals carrying the HLA-DRB1*11 allele are more susceptible to COVID-19 infection but may not display symptoms.

Association of DRB1*11 and DRB1*12 alleles of the HLA system with the evolution of the Hepatitis B virus infection in Burkina Faso.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection affect all social strata of humanity and in the absence of any management, this infection has a different outcome from one infected person to another. This suggests that there are specific individual factors that influence the outcome of the pathology. Sex, immunogenetics and age of contraction of the virus have been cited as factors that influence the evolution of the pathology. In this study, we looked at two alleles of the Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA) system to measure their possible involvement in the evolution of HBV infection. METHOD AND RESULTS: We conducted a cohort study involving 144 individuals spread over 04 distinct stages of infection and then compared allelic frequencies in these populations. A multiplex PCR was conducted and the data obtained was analyzed using R and SPSS software. Our study revealed a predominance of HLA-DRB1*12 in our study population without, however, showing a significant difference between HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12. The HLA-DRB1*12 proportion was significantly higher in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and resolved hepatitis B (RHB) compared to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (p-value = 0,002). Carrying HLA-DRB1*12 has been associated with a low risk of complication of infection (CHB → cirrhosis; OR 0,33 p-value 0,017; RHB → HCC OR 0,13; p-value = 0,00,045) whereas the presence of HLA-DRB1*11 in the absence of HLA-DRB1*12 increased the risk of developing severe liver disease. However, a strong interaction of these alleles with the environment could modulate the infection. CONCLUSION: Our study shown that HLA-DRB1*12 is the most frequent and it's carriage may be protective in the development of infection.

Carriage of HLA-DRB1*11 and 1*12 alleles and risk factors in patients with breast cancer in Burkina Faso.

Several factors contribute to the development of breast cancer, including the immune system. This study is aimed to characterize the carriage of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DRB1*11 and 1*12 alleles in patients with breast cancer. This case-control study consisted of 96 histologically diagnosed breast cancer cases and 102 controls (cases without breast abnormalities). A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to characterize the carriage of HLA-DRB1*11 and 1*12 alleles. The HLA-DRB1*11 allele was present in 26.59% of cases and 22.55% of controls. The HLA-DRB1*12 allele was present in 56.63% of cases and 55.88% of controls. This study found no direct association between the carriage of the HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12 alleles and the occurrence of breast cancer. In addition, the deletion of the HLA-DRB1*11 allele is associated (beneficial effect) with obesity/overweight (OR = 0.13; 95% CI [0.01-1.14]; and p = 0.03) which is a risk for breast cancer. No direct association was found between the carriage of HLA-DRB1*11 and 1*12 alleles and breast cancer risk. However, further investigation of other HLA alleles involved in the occurrence of breast cancer may provide more information.