No significant influence of HLA determinants on susceptibility to hepatitis C virus infection in Caucasian patients with end‐stage renal disease

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Abstract
In hepatitis C, both susceptibility to infection and the course of disease may depend on differences in the immune response. As the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) plays a crucial role in antigen presentation, we investigated a possible relationship between susceptibility to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and human leucocyte antigen (HLA) alleles. Therefore, phenotype frequencies of HLA were compared in 186 anti‐HCV positive patients with end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) to 328 anti‐HCV negative patients with ESRD. HLA class I alleles were determined serologically and HLA class II alleles (DRB1, DQA1, DQB1) by the polymerase chain reaction sequence‐specific oligonucleotide (PCR‐SSO) technique. Additionally, in anti‐HCV positive patients we looked for a relationship between the activity of hepatitis C (indicated by elevation of transaminases or the presence of viremia) and HLA determinants. For the three criteria (antibody status, elevation of transaminases and viremia) a significant association to HLA alleles was not found in patients with ESRD. This suggests that neither susceptibility to HCV infection nor the biochemical activity of hepatitis and HCV‐RNA positivity seem to be strongly related to HLA status in Caucasian patients with end‐stage renal disease.