RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: The course after hepatitis B virus infection appears not to be related to variations in virulence of the HBV itself and may be influenced by the host immune response, which in turn may be regulated by the major histocompatibility complex. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the clearance of HBV was related to a particular HLA allele in Korean. METHODS: We studied total 1372 Korean persons who had visited Yonsei University Medical Center for renal transplantation from January in 1990 to August in 1997. Hepatitis B-viral markers and HLA-DR types were examined by retrospective study. RESULTS: 1) Among 1372 subjects, 924 were male and 448 were female(Mean age, M:37.4yrs, F:38.3yrs). Healthy donors in total subjects were 424. 2) Commonly, HLA-DR4 was most frequent among the total subjects, also in the group of Non-Exposure, Chronic Carrier, Clearance, and Antibody. 3) HLA-DR6 was significantly frequent in the group of Clearance and Antibody compared with the group of Chronic Carrier(p<0.001, RR=3.72 and p<0.001, RR=3.58, respectively). HLA-DR9 was significantly frequent in the group of Chronic Carrier compared with the group of Clearance and Antibody(p<0.001, RR=3.33 and p<0.001, RR=3.32). Results in healthy donors were same as above. 4) HLA-DR13 was significant between the HLA-DR6 subgroups(DR13, DR14) which may influence the clearance of HBV. CONCLUSION: HLA-DR6(esp, HLA-DR13) may be associated with elimination of HBV as one of the host factors influencing the immune response to HBV and HLA-DR9 with persistent HBV infection.