Analysis ofHLA-DR and -DQ gene polymorphisms in sudanese patients with type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes

In this study we report for the first time, the molecular analysis of HLA-DR and -DQ gene frequencies in a large cohort of well charaterized type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus (IDDM) patients (n=72), and ethnically matched controls (n=59) collected in subSaharan Africa. High molecular mass DNA was prepared and analyzed in Southern blots with DRBI, DQA1, and DQB1 probes. By identifying DR and DQ allele-specific restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs), we have shown a strong positive association between IDDM and the Asp 57^–DQB1 allele *0201 (DQw2). A rare DR4, DQw2 haplotype was also identified at high frequency in the IDDM cohort. We can now confirm that the association between Asp 57^–DQB1 alleles and IDDM, previously reported in ethnically diverse cohorts collected in Western Europe, North America, and South Asia, is also present in an IDDM cohort collected in Africa.