Article: HLA-DQB1*06 is a risk marker for chlamydia reinfection in African American women

Associations between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) variants and chlamydia-related outcomes have been inconsistent. We previously identified HLA-DQB1*06 as a risk marker for chlamydia reinfection in a cohort of predominately HIV-infected adolescents. As chlamydia reinfection can lead to reproductive complications, validation of this finding in HIV-seronegative women may help reveal the underlying biology. We performed HLA-DQB1 genotyping in HIV-seronegative, chlamydia-infected African American women who were evaluated for reinfection at 3- and 6-month visits after treatment. Of 185 evaluable women for whom HLA-DQB1 genotyping was performed, only HLA-DQB1*06 was associated with chlamydia reinfection (P = 0.009), with no evidence of a dose-response effect for this allele. African American women with HLA-DQB1*06 may warrant more frequent chlamydia screening. More comprehensive genotyping of HLA class II and neighboring genes is needed to establish whether HLA-DQB1*06 is a causal variant for chlamydia reinfection or a surrogate for other causal variants in the major histocompatibility complex.

Citing Articles

and Select Neighboring HLA Variants Predict Chlamydia Reinfection Risk.

Gupta K, Wiener H, Tiwari H, Geisler W Int J Mol Sci. 2023; 24(21).

PMID: 37958786 PMC: 10647357. DOI: 10.3390/ijms242115803.

Repeat infections with chlamydia in women may be more transcriptionally active with lower responses from some immune genes.

Huston W, Lawrence A, Wee B, Thomas M, Timms P, Vodstrcil L Front Public Health. 2022; 10:1012835.

PMID: 36299763 PMC: 9589431. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1012835.

Identifying HLA DRB1-DQB1 alleles associated with Chlamydia trachomatis infection and in silico prediction of potentially-related peptides.

Pedraza L, Camargo M, Moreno-Perez D, Sanchez R, Del Rio-Ospina L, Baez-Murcia I Sci Rep. 2021; 11(1):12837.

PMID: 34145318 PMC: 8213839. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-92294-w.

The Koala Immune Response to Chlamydial Infection and Vaccine Development-Advancing Our Immunological Understanding.

Quigley B, Timms P Animals (Basel). 2021; 11(2).

PMID: 33546104 PMC: 7913230. DOI: 10.3390/ani11020380.

High rates of persistent and recurrent chlamydia in pregnant women after treatment with azithromycin.

Dionne-Odom J, Subramaniam A, Aaron K, Geisler W, Tita A, Marrazzo J Am J Obstet Gynecol MFM. 2020; 2(4):100216.

PMID: 33345925 PMC: 8711314. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajogmf.2020.100216.

References

1.

Geisler W, Tang J, Wang C, Wilson C, Kaslow R . Epidemiological and genetic correlates of incident Chlamydia trachomatis infection in North American adolescents. J Infect Dis. 2004; 190(10):1723-9. DOI: 10.1086/425077. View

2.

Geisler W . Duration of untreated, uncomplicated Chlamydia trachomatis genital infection and factors associated with chlamydia resolution: a review of human studies. J Infect Dis. 2010; 201 Suppl 2:S104-13. DOI: 10.1086/652402. View

3.

Wang C, Tang J, Geisler W, Crowley-Nowick P, Wilson C, Kaslow R . Human leukocyte antigen and cytokine gene variants as predictors of recurrent Chlamydia trachomatis infection in high-risk adolescents. J Infect Dis. 2005; 191(7):1084-92. DOI: 10.1086/428592. View

4.

Morrison R, Feilzer K, Tumas D . Gene knockout mice establish a primary protective role for major histocompatibility complex class II-restricted responses in Chlamydia trachomatis genital tract infection. Infect Immun. 1995; 63(12):4661-8. PMC: 173669. DOI: 10.1128/iai.63.12.4661-4668.1995. View

5.

Cohen C, Sinei S, Bukusi E, Bwayo J, Holmes K, Brunham R . Human leukocyte antigen class II DQ alleles associated with Chlamydia trachomatis tubal infertility. Obstet Gynecol. 2000; 95(1):72-7. DOI: 10.1016/s0029-7844(99)00541-4. View

6.

Geisler W, Uniyal A, Lee J, Lensing S, Johnson S, Perry R . Azithromycin versus Doxycycline for Urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis Infection. N Engl J Med. 2015; 373(26):2512-21. PMC: 4708266. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1502599. View

7.

Cohen C, Gichui J, Rukaria R, Sinei S, Gaur L, Brunham R . Immunogenetic correlates for Chlamydia trachomatis-associated tubal infertility. Obstet Gynecol. 2003; 101(3):438-44. DOI: 10.1016/s0029-7844(02)03077-6. View

8.

Ness R, Brunham R, Shen C, Bass D . Associations among human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II DQ variants, bacterial sexually transmitted diseases, endometritis, and fertility among women with clinical pelvic inflammatory disease. Sex Transm Dis. 2004; 31(5):301-4. DOI: 10.1097/01.olq.0000123649.52033.75. View

9.

Kinnunen A, Surcel H, Lehtinen M, Karhukorpi J, Tiitinen A, Halttunen M . HLA DQ alleles and interleukin-10 polymorphism associated with Chlamydia trachomatis-related tubal factor infertility: a case-control study. Hum Reprod. 2002; 17(8):2073-8. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/17.8.2073. View

10.

Haggerty C, Gottlieb S, Taylor B, Low N, Xu F, Ness R . Risk of sequelae after Chlamydia trachomatis genital infection in women. J Infect Dis. 2010; 201 Suppl 2:S134-55. DOI: 10.1086/652395. View

11.

Hosenfeld C, Workowski K, Berman S, Zaidi A, Dyson J, Mosure D . Repeat infection with Chlamydia and gonorrhea among females: a systematic review of the literature. Sex Transm Dis. 2009; 36(8):478-89. DOI: 10.1097/OLQ.0b013e3181a2a933. View

HLA-DQB1*06 is a Risk Marker for Chlamydia Reinfection in African American Women