Prevalence of HLA-B*27 in the North Indian population: A single-center study

Objectives: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a type of spondylitis in which the spine and other joints are largely affected. A strong association of HLA-B*27 with AS has been observed. However, the exact mechanism underlying this association and the pathogenesis of the disease remains unclear. As the diversity of HLA varies among populations, our objective was to investigate the prevalence of HLA-B*27 and its allelic variants in the North Indian population. Materials and Methods: The data of 7451 individuals were analyzed for the study and all these samples have HLA typed by sequence-based typing from an American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI)-accredited laboratory. Results: Among the studied population, 304 individuals (4.08%) were found to have HLA-B* 27 allele. The most frequent subtypes of HLA-B*27 observed in the North Indian population were HLA-B*27: 05 (21.71%) and HLA-B*27: 07 (16.28%). A total of 97 HLA-B genotypes were identified among studied population. Conclusion: The higher frequency of HLA-B*27:05 suggests an idea that the North Indian population may have a higher risk of AS.