RESUMO
As incidence of SLE is high in Blacks, we studied HLA and SLE associations in the French West Indies, whose population is racially mixed. Forty-seven coloured SLE patients have been typed in HLA A,B,C and DR. We observed B8 association in nearly all of the studies. B15 association, more frequent in Caucasians, was found, also B53 association, a Black variant of B5 more frequent in Blacks. We did not find any class II association.
Assuntos
Antígenos HLA/análise , Antígenos HLA-D/análise , Antígenos HLA-DR/análise , Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico/genética , Antígenos HLA/genética , Antígenos HLA-DR/genética , Humanos , Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico/imunologia , Índias OcidentaisRESUMO
Patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA) had an abnormal susceptibility to infections. In Martinique (French West Indies), a human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus type I (HTLV-I) endemic area, we found that 17 (10%) of 173 SCA patients had antibodies to HTLV-I. The possible relationship between HTLV-I seropositivity and altered immunity was studied in 13 SCA patients with HTLV-I antibodies compared with 13 matched SCA patients without HTLV-I antibodies. The immunological results, as evaluated by the T-cell subsets analysis, the lymphocyte proliferation responses analyzed after activation with concanavalin A, phytohemagglutinin, or pokeweed mitogen, and the natural killer activity were not statistically different in these two groups of patients (SCA HTLV-I positive vs SCA HTLV-I negative). These data suggest that HTLV-I infection did not result in a major alteration of cellular immunity in this population.
Assuntos
Anemia Falciforme/imunologia , Anticorpos Antivirais/análise , Anticorpos Antideltaretrovirus , Humanos , Imunidade Celular , Células Matadoras Naturais/imunologia , Ativação Linfocitária , Linfócitos/classificação , Linfócitos T Reguladores/imunologia , Índias OcidentaisRESUMO
The genetic polymorphism previously reported to be associated with the sickle-cell (beta S) gene in black U.S.A. citizens was studied in the population of two French West-Indies islands in order to evaluate its potential application to the antenatal diagnosis of sickle-cell anaemia. The polymorphism consists of a change in the DNA sequences located near the 3' end of the beta globin gene. The change can be detected by means of the restriction endonuclease Hpa I. When cellular DNA is digested with this enzyme, the beta globin gene is contained in a DNA fragment measuring either 7.6 or 13.0 kilobases (kb). In 70% of SS homozygous subjects in Martinique and 57% in Guadeloupe the beta S gene was carried by a 13.0 kb DNA fragment, whereas the normal beta A gene was carried by a 7.6 kb DNA fragment. This polymorphism would make it possible to detect the foetal beta S gene in the DNA of amniotic fluid cells by linkage analysis.