HLA-DQ2 and -DQ8 Genotypes in Libyan Children with Celiac Disease

Celiac.com 10/20/2011 - Very little study information exists concerning rates of celiac disease-predisposing, HLA-related genes in Arab populations.

A research team recently investigated the distribution of HLA-DQ2 and -DQ8 genotypes in Libyan children with celiac disease, and in healthy control subjects.

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The study team included Kamla Alaridaa, Jumma Harownb, Maria Rosaria Di Pierroc, Sandro Dragoc, and Carlo Catassid.

They are affiliated variously with the Department of Pediatrics, “Omar Al Mukhtar” University, and the El Thoura Hospital in Al Bayda, Libya, the Biodiagene S.r.L., Palermo, Italy, the  Department of Pediatrics of the Università Politecnica delle Marche in Ancona, Italy, and the Center For Celiac Research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.

The team tested 31 Libyan children with celiac disease (22 females and 9 males, median age 9.2 years) and 156 Libyan control subjects (81 females and 75 males, median age 10.9).

To determine HLA genes, the team used DQ-celiac disease Typing Plus kit by DiaGene of Palermo, Italy, on a drop of dried blood.

Test results showed that the HLA-DQ pattern for the 3 children with celiac disease was: hetero DQ2 (n = 15), DQ2 with homo β2 (10), DQ8 and β2 positive (3), DQ8 (2), and hetero β2 (1).

Meanwhile, the HLA-DQ pattern of the 156 controls was: hetero DQ2 (n = 36), hetero β2 (30), DQ2–DQ8 negative (23), DQ8 (19), α5 (14), DQ2 with homo β (12), homo β2 (10), DQ8 and β2 positive (7), and DQ2/DQ8 (5).

The study team found that HLA-DQ2 and -DQ8 in was as common in Libyan children with celiac disease as in Italian children with the disease. However, there were more “high-risk” genotypes in Libyan children with the disease compared to their Italian counterparts.

Lastly, the prevalence of HLA-DQ2 and -DQ8 genes was higher among the Libyan general population that among the Italian population, which suggests a strong genetic predisposition to celiac disease among the Libyan population.

Source:

• Digestive and Liver Disease 42 (2010) 425–427