HLA-A*02 is associated with a reduced risk and HLA-A*01 with an increased risk of developing EBVI Hodgkin lymphoma

Niens, M. et al. (2007) HLA-A*02 is associated with a reduced risk and HLA-A*01 with an increased risk of developing EBVI Hodgkin lymphoma. Blood, 110(9), pp. 3310-3315. (doi: 10.1182/blood-2007-05-086934)

Abstract

Previous studies showed that the HLA class I region is associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)–positive Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and that HLA-A is the most likely candidate gene in this region. This suggests that antigenic presentation of EBV-derived peptides in the context of HLA-A is involved in the pathogenesis of EBV+ HL by precluding efficient immune responses. We genotyped exons 2 and 3, encoding the peptide-binding groove of HLA-A, for 32 single nucleotide polymorphisms in 70 patients with EBV+ HL, 31 patients with EBV– HL, and 59 control participants. HLA-A*01 was significantly overrepresented and HLA-A*02 was significantly underrepresented in patients with EBV+ HL versus controls and patients with EBV– HL. In addition, HLA-A*02 status was determined by immunohistochemistry or HLA-A*02–specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on 152 patients with EBV+ HL and 322 patients with EBV– HL. The percentage of HLA-A*02+ patients in the EBV+ HL group (35.5%) was significantly lower than in 6107 general control participants (53.0%) and the EBV– HL group (50.9%). Our results indicate that individuals carrying the HLA-A*02 allele have a reduced risk of developing EBV+ HL, while individuals carrying the HLA-A*01 allele have an increased risk. It is known that HLA-A*02 can present EBV-derived peptides and can evoke an effective immune response, which may explain the protective phenotype.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Gallagher, Dr Alice
• Authors: Niens, M., Jarreft, R.F., Hepkema, B., Nolte, I.M., Diepstra, A., Platteel, M., Kouprie, N., Delury, C.P., Gallagher, A., Visser, L., Poppema, S., Meerman, G.J.T., and van den Berg, A.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences
• Journal Name: Blood