Viral clearance in hepatitis C (1b) infection: Relationship with human leukocyte antigen class II in a homogeneous population

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of a significant relationship between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II and the clearance of hepatitis C virus (HCV). The study group consisted of 156 Irish women who iatrogenically received HCV 1b-contaminated Anti-D immunoglobulin between May 1977 and November 1978. Thus, the study population was homogeneous in terms of gender, source of infection, and ethnicity. On Screening in 1994, all individuals were anti-HCV antibody positive by recombinant immunoblot assay, while 46% (n=72) of the group were HCV-positive by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). HLA DRB1 and DQBI status was molecularly defined by high resolution reverse line probe hybridization methodology. Clearance of HCV 1b was found to be associated with DRBI*01. However, this association was lost after Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Extended haplotype analysis between specific DRB1 and DQBI allelic combinations identified a significant reduction in the frequency of DQBI*0501 in the presence of DRBI*0701 in the persistently infected individuals in the study group (P