HLA-DQB1 Allele Polymorphism Associated with Oral Submucous Fibrosis in Hunan, China

Abstract

Background and Objective. Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a progressive and irreversible disorder of collagen metabolism, resulting in mucosal fibrosis, oral functional changes, and even malignant transformation. This study investigated the relationship between human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DQB1 alleles and the susceptibility to OSF in a Hunan Han population, providing a new basis for clinical prevention and treatment of OSF. Methods. 44 OSF patients and 44 healthy volunteers were included in this study. To detect the expression frequency of HLA-DQB1 alleles in the two groups and analyze significant allelic subtypes and their relative risk, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) sequence-specific primers were used. Subsequently, based on the identification of differential genes, we compare the gene expression levels of OSF patients and healthy volunteers expressing differential genes by real-time quantitative PCR. Results. The expression frequency of the HLA-DQB1 ∗05 : 02 allele in the OSF group (36.4%) was significantly higher than in the controls (13.6%), and exposure to the HLA-DQB1 ∗05 : 02 allele was strongly related to OSF (OR (95% CI) = 3.619 (1.257,10.421), Wald χ2 = 5.681, P=0.017). However, there were no significant differences in the allele expression frequencies of DQB1 ∗02 : 01, DQB1 ∗03 : 03, DQB1 ∗05 : 01, DQB1 ∗05 : 03, DQB1 ∗06 : 02, DQB1 ∗06 : 03, and DQB1 ∗06 : 04 in the OSF group compared with the controls (all P>0.05). Furthermore, the relative expression level of the HLA-DQB1 ∗05 : 02 allele in the OSF group (3.98 ± 3.50) was significantly higher than in controls (0.70 ± 0.41). Conclusions. There are differences in the HLA-DQB1 allele polymorphisms between the healthy population and patients with oral submucosal fibrosis. Preliminarily, it is suggested that the HLA-DQB1 ∗05 : 02 allele, which has a strong correlation with OSF and great differential expression between patients with OSF and controls, might be a susceptibility gene for OSF in Hunan.