Determination of HLA B57: 01 allele prevalence by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method in untreated hiv positive patients with new diagnosis

There is an increasing trend in the frequency of HIV infection in our country. There is no multicenter study with HLA-B57:01 allele frequency associated with hypersensitivity syndrome, which is the biggest contraindication for the use of Abacavir in HIV treatment. This retrospective study includes the DNA samples isolated from blood samples taken into a blood tube containing 3% EDTA solution which belong to 235 newly diagnosed patients who were sent for HLA-B57:01 test to 'General Directorate of Public Health of Türkiye, Microbiology Reference Laboratories and Biological Products Department, National HIV-AIDS Verification and Viral Hepatitis Reference Laboratories' between January-December 2021. It was aimed to screen the frequency of the HLA-B57:01allele by allele-specific PCR. EDTA 0.5 M, 10XTBE solutions were prepared to monitor DNA samples. Data analysis was done in the SPSS15 package program. Pearson Chi-square and Fisher's Exact Test were used for categorical comparisons. Statistically, the results with p<0.05 were considered significant. Allele positivity was detected in 5 (2.12%) of 235 samples tested for the presence of HLA-B57:01 allele in the study group. It was observed that 3 of these patients were in the age group of 18-25, and 2 of them were in the age group of 26-35. As a result of the geographical evaluation of the patients' referral centers, 126 (53.6%) of the samples were Central Anatolia, 64 (27.2%) Black Sea, 26 (11.1%) Mediterranean, 8 (3.4%) South East Anatolia, 4 (1.7%) Aegean, 4 (1.7%) Marmara and 3 (1.3%) were Eastern Anatolia Region. It was determined that 5 positive patients were in the group of patients aged 35 years and younger, and being younger than 35 years was found to be statistically related (p=0.044, OR=4.056). In the relationship between HLA-B57:01 positivity and gender; It was determined that all positive patients were male, and 2.8% of all male patients carried the HLA-B57:01 allele (p=0.371).