HLA‐A and HLA‐B in Kenya, Africa: Allele frequencies and identification of HLA‐B*1567 and HLA‐B*4426

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Abstract
HLA‐A and HLA‐B alleles of a population from Kenya, Africa were examined by sequencing exon 2 and exon 3 DNA and typing using a Taxonomy‐based Sequence‐analysis (TBSA) method. Extensive diversities were observed at both HLA‐A and HLA‐B loci in this population. Forty‐one HLA‐A alleles were identified from 159 unrelated individuals. The most frequently observed alleles were A*6802 (11.64%), A*02011/09 (9.75%), A*7401/02 (9.43%), A*3001 (7.86%), A*3002 (7.23%) and A*3601 (6.6%). Forty‐nine HLA‐B alleles were identified in 161 unrelated individuals, including two novel alleles, B*1567 and B*4426. The most frequently observed HLA‐B alleles were B*5301 (9.01%), B*5801 (8.38%), B*4201 (7.76%), B*1503 (7.14%), B*1801 (6.21%), and B*5802 (5.90%). The most frequently observed HLA‐A‐B haplotypes were A*3601‐B*5301 (3.55%) and A*3001‐B*4201 (3.19%), followed by A*7401/02‐B*5801 (2.84%), A*7401/02‐B*5802 (2.84%) and A*02011/09‐B*1503 (2.13%). Linkage disequilibrium and χ2 analysis showed the association of these HLA‐A‐B haplotypes at the antigen level to be significant. The frequencies of HLA‐A and HLA‐B alleles from the Kenyan population were compared with that of a population from Cameroon. The difference in allele and haplotype frequency distributions partly reflected the different ethnic composition of these two African populations.