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HLA-B27 and Its Subtypes in 4 Taiwanese Aborigine Tribes: A Comparison to Han Chinese Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis
CHUNG T. CHOU, JIA M. CHEN, CHANG M. HSU, and SHU J. CHEN
ABSTRACT. Methods. Blood was obtained from 281 Aborigine people of the Atayal tribe (I-Lan), 141 Paiwan (Ping-Ton), 38 Rukai (Ping-Ton), and 40 Yami (Orchid Island), and also 47 B27+ healthy Han Chinese subjects and 82 B27+ Han patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). HLA-B27 and its subtypes were determined by standard methods. Results. A much higher prevalence of B27 was found among the Atayal Aborigines (9.2%), which was significantly different from a lower prevalence in the Paiwan (2.1%; p = 0.004) and even higher than that of Han Chinese (5.59%; p = 0.04). No blood sample from the 38 Rukai Aborigines showed any B27. B2704 was the only subtype (100%) found in the 28 healthy Aborigines and 2 Aborigine patients with AS. However, in Chinese subjects, 40 of 47 (85%) B27+ healthy subjects were B2704, and 7 of 47 (15%) were B2705. In Chinese B27+ AS patients, 77 of 82 (94%) were B2704 and 5 of 82 (6%) were B2705. No other subtypes were found. Only the Aborigines without AS carrying B2704 showed a significant difference from the Chinese without AS carrying B2704 (p = 0.041). Conclusion. The different prevalence of B27, but similar frequency of the B2704 subtype, between Aborigines and Han Chinese suggests Aborigines are a unique population and may originate from an Asian country, possibly mainland China. (J Rheumatol 2003;30:321-5) Key Indexing Terms:
HLA-B27 SUBTYPES
From the Division of Allergy-Immunology-Rheumatology, Veterans General Hospital, Taipei; Department of Internal Medicine, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital, Hualien; Division of Allergy-Immunology-Rheumatology, Ping-Tung Christian Hospital, Ping-Tung; and Department of Life Science, Institute of Anthropology, Tzu-Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan. C.T. Chou, MD, Professor of Medicine, Yang-Ming University; J.M. Chen, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Tzu Chi University; C.M. Hsu, MD, Division of Allergy-Immunology-Rheumatology, Ping-Tung Christian Hospital; S.J. Chen, Instructor, Tzu-Chi University. Address reprint requests to Prof. C.T. Chou, No. 201, Shih-Pai Road, Shih-Pai, Taipei, Taiwan 11217. E-mail: ctchou@vghtpe.gov.tw Submitted April 16, 2002; revision accepted August 7, 2002. |