Polymorphism analysis of HLA-DRB1 alleles in seven markets in Jiangsu Han population
Objective To investigate the frequencies of human leukocyte antigen ( HLA)-DRB1 alleles of Chinese Marrow Donor Program (CMDP) donors in seven markets of Jiangsu Han population. Methods 2787 donors from CMDP Jiangsu Branch were typed in HLA-DRB1 locus using polymerase chain reaction-sequence-based typing (PCR-SBT) method or polymerase chain reaction-reverse sequence specific oligonucleotide probes (PCR-rSSOP) method. Frequencies of HLA-DRB1 were separately calculated in seven markets and a comparison was made among them. Results A total of 38,33,26,36,37,31,26 alleles in DRB1 locus were separately found in Huai-an, Xuzhou, Taizhou, Suqian, Nanjing, Changzhou, Yangzhou population. The most frequent HLA-DRB1 alleles in Huai-an, Xuzhou, Suqian respectively were DRB1 * 07:01, 09:01, 15:01,12:02; In Nanjing and were DRB1 * 09:01,07:01, 15:01, 12:02; In Yangzhou were DRB1 * 09:01,07:01,15:01,08:03; In Taizhou were DRB1 *09:01, 07:01, 04:05, 15:01; In Changzhou were DRB1 *09:01,07:01, 12:02, 08:03. Conclusion The above results reflected the distribution of HLA-DRB1 alleles in seven markets of Jiangsu Han population, which held abundant polymorphism, and a certain uniqueness in every market. The HLA-DRB1 allele distribution of Nanjing, Yangzhou were the closest groups to northern China, Huaian, Xuzhou, Suqian, Changzhou, Taizhou were close to northern China except DRB1 * 09:01,07:01 in different frequencies. These findings could guide the selection of future donor in CMDP Jiangsu Branch. It also could serve as foundation for HLA related disease research, studies of population genetics and anthropology in Chinese Han population. 
 
Key words: 
Seven markets in Jiangsu; HLA-DRB1; Allele; Frequency