Nigerian Postgraduate Medical Journal (Jan 2014)
Preliminary report of HLA (DNA) typing of Nigerians using sequence-specific primer technique
Abstract
Aims and Objectives: This communication is an attempt to present the experience and a preliminary report of results over a one-year period. Patients and Methods: From December 2011 to December 2012, a prospective determination of the HLA types of 20 individuals referred to the Tissue Typing Laboratory of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife was done. These consisted of prospective transplant recipients, their donors, and a migrant pair for kinship determination. DNA was extracted from the client′s peripheral blood sample, using the QIAmp Blood DNA Mini kit, (Qiagen). PCR was done using Olerup; low-resolution PCR-SSP typing kit. The PCR product was resolved in 2% agarose gel, and the bands visualised under UV light. The HLA types were determined using provided tables and/or Helmberg software. Data were presented using descriptive statistics whileHLA antigen frequency (AF) was expressed in percentage and gene frequency (GF) was determined using square root method (1-(1-AF)1/2). Results: A total of 20 individuals (13males and 7females) consisting of seven renal transplant recipients and seven prospective donors; a stem cell recipient and three donors and a migrant pair for kinship determination were typed. Age ranged from 4-65 years. 44 HLA alleles were detected, while HLA-A, B, C, DRB1 and DQB1 were 7, 10, 11, 8, 8 alleles respectively. The alleles were heterogeneous in distribution while 6 antigens (HLA-AFNx0102, BFNx0130, CFNx0115, DRB1FNx0103, DRB1FNx0108 and DQB1FNx0106) were having frequencies e"25%. Conclusion: This report confirms that DNA-based HLA typing is feasible locally, andit was observed that renal transplantation procedure is the most frequent indication. The HLA antigens observed to have very high frequencies (e"25% frequency) in this population were HLA-AFNx0102, BFNx0130, CFNx0115, DRB1FNx0103, DRB1FNx0108 and DQB1FNx0106. There is a strong need to develop a broad-based HLA data bank for Nigeria to further strengthening her transplantation programmes.