HLA Gene Polymorphism in Patients with
Chronic HBV Infection. Fundeni Clinical
Institute Experience
Adriana TALANGESCU1,2,
Ion MARUNTELU1,2, Alexandra-Elena CONSTANTINESCU1,3, Andreia-Ioana CONSTANTINESCU3,4, Maria
TIZU1,2, Ileana
CONSTANTINESCU1,2,5
1Immunology and Transplant
Immunology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 258 Fundeni
Avenue, 022328 Bucharest, Romania
2Centre of Immunogenetics
and Virology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, 258 Fundeni Avenue, 022328 Bucharest,
Romania
3“Emil Palade” Center of
Excellence for Young Researchers (EP-CEYR). Romanian Academy of Scientists
(AOSR)
4Faculty of Medicine of
“Titu Maiorescu” University of Bucharest, Str. Gheorghe Petraşcu no.67A,
031595, Bucharest, Romania
5Academy of Romanian
Scientists (AOSR), 3 Ilfov Street, Sector 5, 022328 Bucharest, Romania
Correspondence to: Ileana Constantinescu, Immunology and Transplant Immunology, Carol Davila
University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 258 Fundeni Avenue, 022328 Bucharest,
Romania; Centre of Immunogenetics and Virology, Fundeni Clinical Institute, 258
Fundeni Avenue, 022328 Bucharest, Romania; e-mail: ileana.constantinescu@imunogenetica.ro
Abstract. Introduction: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious health problem for the
public health systems in many countries worldwide. According to the European
Society for the Liver Study, more than 350 million people are diagnosed with hepatitis
B virus infection. Chronic viral HBV
infection could be caused by the inability of both the cellular and humoral
immune systems to eliminate HBV. HLA genes control cellular and humoral immune
responses and present the viral antigens to CD8+ (cytotoxic T cells) and CD4+ T
(T helper cells). Aim: To look at
the HLA allele polymorphisms in chronic hepatitis B-infected patients to search
for significant HLA allele associations. Methods:
We have included 240
patients with HBV infection from the Gastroenterology and Hepatology ward, at Fundeni Clinical Institute. As a control group, 300
unrelated healthy people with no hepatitis B infection were also included. We
have genotyped the HLA class I and class II genes for both patients and the
control group with Next Generation Sequencing Illumina (Immucor, Mia Fora NGS Flex, Norcross, GA, USA). Results: Our preliminary data showed
that HLA-DQA1*01:02:02 and HLADRB5*02:02:01 alleles are associated with the risk of HBV
infection persistence. Conclusions: Our
study showed that a specific HLA genotype profile is associated with chronic
HBV infection in our Romanian patients.
Keywords: HBV,
HLA, NGS Illumina.
DOI 10.56082/annalsarscimed.2024.1.22
