Objective: To investigate the HLA-A, B, DRB1 allele polymorphism in Monba ethnic population of Xizang Autonomous Region.
Methods: HLA-A, B, DRB1, DNA types in 47 unrelated Monba ethnic healthy individuals from the Xizang Autonomous Region of China were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-based reverse line-strip sequence specific oligonucleotide hybridization. Based on the HLA-DRB1 alleles frequencies of 11 other ethnic groups in China, a molecular phylogenetic tree was constructed by the Neighbor-Joining (NJ) method.
Results: Twenty-three alleles were detected for HLA-A, 39 for HLA-B, and 33 for HLA-DRB1. HLA-A*1101, A*2402, A*02011, A*0206, HLA-B*3802, B*4001, B*4002, B*51011, HLA-DRB1*12021, DRB1*0403, DRB1*0701, DRB1*1201 were the most common alleles. The most frequent alleles were HLA-A*1101(0.2128), HLA-B*3802(0.1064), and HLA-DRB1*12021(0.0851).
Conclusion: The HLA loci are highly polymorphic in Monba population of Xizang Autonomous Region. Compared with other ethnic groups in China, the Monba ethnic group is close to Tibetan ethnic group.