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Human leukocyte antigen distribution analysis in North
Italian brain Glioma patients: an association with HLA-DRB1*14
Guerini
FR, Agliardi
C, Zanzottera
M, Delbue
S, Pagani
E, Tinelli
C, Boldorini
R, Car
PG, Veggiani
C, Ferrante
P
Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Biotechnology, Don C. Gnocchi
Foundation IRCCS, S. Maria Nascente, Milan, Italy.
Human leukocyte antigens (HLA) are widely expressed cell surface molecules
that present antigenic peptides to T-lymphocytes and modulate the immune
response against inflammatory and malignant disease.
Frequently, tumoral
cells express antigens that are recognized by the immune system.
Ineffective
immune response could be the result of defects in antigen presentation in
those subjects with peculiar HLA alleles, which, owing to mechanisms that
are still unknown, are unable to carry out their function.
Only a few
studies on glioma and HLA association have been performed to date.
The aim
of our study was to characterize a group of Italian Caucasian patients with
glioma, to investigate a possible association between HLA antigens and
cerebral glioma tumorigenesis in Italian patients.
HLA typing of class I and
class II loci was done by molecular typing performed on blood DNA from 36
glioma patients from northern Italy.
The data obtained were compared with
HLA frequencies taken from the database of northern Italian organ donors.
A
positive association between HLA-DRB1*14 and the presence of symptomatic
cerebral glioma was observed (p = 0.02, odds ratio = 2.48, 95% confidence
interval: 1.09-5.45).
This is the first Italian report on a case-control data
study of HLA distribution conducted on a group of glioma patients and a
first step in defining a possible involvement of HLA in susceptibility to
brain glioma in the Italian population.
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