Highlights• Type 1 diabetes (T1D) in north India is strongly associated with HLA-DRB1*03 haplotypes. • The association between HLA-DRB1*04 and T1D in north India differs from that in south India and in Caucasians.
AbstractBackground: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a complex disease, with involvement of various susceptibility genes. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) on chromosome 6p21 is major susceptibility region. This study examined genetic association of HLA genes with T1D.Methods: The study recruited 259 T1D patients and 706 controls from north India. PCR-SSP and LiPA were used to type HLA Class I and II alleles. Results: At HLA Class I locus, HLA-A*02, A*26, B*08 and B*50 were significantly increased in patients vs controls (39.8% vs 28.9% [Bonferroni-corrected P {P c } = 0.032], 24.7% vs 9.6% [P c = 4.83 × 10 −8 ], 37.2% vs 15.7% [P c = 1.92 × 10 −9 ], and 19.4% vs 5.5% [P c = 4.62 × 10 −9 ], respectively). Similarly, in Class II region, DRB1*03 showed a strong positive association with T1D (78.7% vs 17.5% in controls; P = 1.02 × 10 −9 ). Association of DRB1*04 with T1D (28.3% vs 15.5% in controls; P c = 3.86 × 10 −4 ) was not independent of DRB1*03. Negative associations were found between T1D and DRB1*07, *11, *13, and *15 (13.8% vs 26.1% in controls [P c = 0.00175], 3.9% vs 16.9% in controls [P c = 6.55× 10 −6 ], 5.5% vs 21.6% in controls [P c = 2.51 × 10 −7 ], and 16.9% vs 43.9% in controls [P c = 9.94× 10 −10 ], respectively). Compared with controls, patients had significantly higher haplotype frequencies of A