Evaluation the frequencies of HLA alleles in moderate and severe COVID-19 patients in Iran: A molecular HLA typing study
Farhad Abolnezhadian,
Sara Iranparast,
Mojtaba Shohan,
Zahra Shokati Eshkiki,
Mahtab Hamed,
Maryam Seyedtabib,
Roohangiz Nashibi,
Mohammad-Ali Assarehzadegan,
Seyed Ali Mard,
Ali Akbar Shayesteh,
Niloofar Neisi,
Manoochehr Makvandi,
Seyed Mohammad Alavi,
Gholamreza Shariati
Affiliations
Farhad Abolnezhadian
Department of Pediatrics, Abuzar Children's Hospital, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Sara Iranparast
Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Immunology Research Center, Institute of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Corresponding author. Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
Mojtaba Shohan
Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Zahra Shokati Eshkiki
Alimentary Tract Research Center, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Mahtab Hamed
Immunobiology Center of Pasteur Medical Laboratory, Ahvaz, Iran
Maryam Seyedtabib
Department of Biostatistics & Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Roohangiz Nashibi
Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Health Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Mohammad-Ali Assarehzadegan
Department of Pediatrics, Abuzar Children's Hospital, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Immunology Research Center, Institute of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Alimentary Tract Research Center, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Immunobiology Center of Pasteur Medical Laboratory, Ahvaz, Iran; Department of Biostatistics & Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Health Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Physiology Research Center, Research Institute for Infectious Diseases of Digestive System and Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Alimentary Tract Research Center, Imam Khomeini Hospital Clinical Research Development Unit, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Immunology Research Center, Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Seyed Ali Mard
Physiology Research Center, Research Institute for Infectious Diseases of Digestive System and Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Ali Akbar Shayesteh
Alimentary Tract Research Center, Imam Khomeini Hospital Clinical Research Development Unit, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Niloofar Neisi
Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Manoochehr Makvandi
Department of Virology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Seyed Mohammad Alavi
Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Health Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Gholamreza Shariati
Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 was first reported in December 2019 and it has spread globally ever since. The HLA system is crucial in directing anti-viral immunity and recent studies are investigating the possible involvement of the HLA genes on the severity of immune inflammation in different phases of COVID-19. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, peripheral blood-extracted genomic DNAs of 109 COVID-19 patients and 70 healthy controls were genotyped for different alleles of HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-DRB1 loci using sequence-specific primer PCR method. Results: The results indicated that frequencies of HLA-DRB1*11:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03 were significantly higher in severe patients rather than moderates (p: <0.001 and 0.004, respectively). Also, it was observed that HLA-DRB1*04:01 was more frequent in moderate patients and healthy controls (p:0.002). In addition, HLA-B*07:35, and HLA-DRB1*07:01 showed higher frequencies in patients compared with controls (p: 0.031 and 0.003 respectively). Inversely, due to the higher frequencies of HLA-B*51:01 (p:0.027), HLA-DRB1*11:05 (p:0.003), HLA-DRB1*13:05 (p:0.022), and HLA-DRB1*14:01 (p:0.006) in healthy individuals rather than patients, they may be associated with COVID-19 resistance. Conclusion: The results show that, based on the population differences, the type of alleles related to the severity of COVID-19 is different, which should be clarified by designing large-scale studies in order to develop HLA-based treatments and vaccines.
