Human platelet antigen genotyping of platelet donors in southern Brazil.

Human platelet antigens (HPA) are immunogenic structures that result from single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) leading to single amino acid substitutions. This study sought to determine the allele and genotype frequencies of HPA-1, HPA-2, HPA-3, HPA-4, HPA-5 and HPA-15 in platelet donors from the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil, and compare their allele frequencies to those observed in other populations. HPA genotyping was performed by PCR-SSP method. The study sample comprised 201 platelet donors (167 Caucasians and 34 non-Caucasians). Allele 'a' was that most commonly found for HPA-1 to 5 in both groups. The HPA-15ab genotype predominated over homozygous genotypes of this system. Fisher's exact test revealed statistically significant differences for the HPA-5 system, with a greater prevalence of the HPA-5b allele in non-Caucasians. The neighbour-joining method and principal components analysis revealed genetic proximity between our Caucasian group and European populations. We conclude that the allele frequencies of HPA-1 to 5 and HPA-15 found in our Caucasian sample are similar to those reported for European populations. These findings corroborate the ethnic makeup of the population of RS. The higher frequency of the HPA-5b allele found in the non-Caucasian group of our sample suggests the possibility of allosensitization in patients who receive platelet transfusions from genetically incompatible donors.

A study of the killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor gene KIR2DS1 in a Caucasoid Brazilian population with psoriasis vulgaris.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease whose pathogenesis and genetic background remain unclear. Considering that previous studies have suggested an association of psoriasis vulgaris (PV) and killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs), we typed 15 KIR genes and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-Cw in 79 Brazilian Caucasoid patients with PV and 110 healthy controls by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using sequence-specific oligonucleotides and sequence-specific primers. We did not observe a relevant increase in the frequency of the activating KIR2DS1 gene in the PV group [KIR2DS1, 46 of 79 cases (58.2%) vs 40 of 110 controls (36.4%)]. However, an association of KIR2DS1 with Cw*0602+ in 26.5% of PV patients was observed, while it was present in only 5.4% of controls. These results suggest that activating KIR2DS1 gene may not confer susceptibility to PV, and an association of KIR2DS1 gene with the HLA-Cw*0602+ was observed in these patients.