Simultaneous genotyping of HPA-17w to -21w by PCR-SSP in Chinese Cantonese.

ABSTRACT

Studies have reported the polymorphism of human platelet antigen (HPA)-17w, -18w, -19w, -20w, and -21w. However, the distribution of these five antigens in Chinese Cantonese is still unknown. In this study, we designed new sequence-specific primers for HPA-19w to -21w and used published primers for HPA-17w and -18w to develop a polymerase chain reaction with the sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) method for simultaneously genotyping HPA-17w to -21w. A total of 820 unrelated Cantonese apheresis platelet donors in Guangzhou were involved in this study. Among the five HPAs, complete a/a homozygosity was observed for HPA-17w to -20w with an allele frequency of 1.0000. For HPA-21w, nine individuals (9/820, 1.10%) were found to be HPA-21a/bw heterozygous and the allele frequencies of HPA-21a and HPA-21bw were 0.9945 (1631/1640) and 0.0055 (9/1640), respectively. The reliability of the PCR-SSP method was determined by comparing with the genotyping results by DNA sequencing, and no inconsistencies were observed between the two methods. This study provides a reliable PCR-SSP method for simultaneously genotyping HPA-17w to -21w and could improve HPA-matched platelet transfusion in Chinese Cantonese.