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Common West African HLA antigens are associated with protection from severe malaria

Nature volume 352, pages 595–600 (1991)Cite this article

Abstract

A large case-control study of malaria in West African children shows that a human leucocyte class I antigen (HLA-Bw53) and an HLA class II haplotype (DRB1*1302–DQB1*0501), common in West Africans but rare in other racial groups, are independently associated with protection from severe malaria. In this population they account for as great a reduction in disease incidence as the sickle-cell haemoglobin variant. These data support the hypothesis that the extraordinary polymorphism of major histocompatibility complex genes has evolved primarily through natural selection by infectious pathogens.

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Author notes

  1. Dominic Kwiatkowski, Nicholas M. Anstey, Patrick Twumasi and Brian M. Greenwood: Medical Research Council Laboratories, Fajara, The Gambia

  2. Pamela A. Rowe and Stephen Bennett: Department of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK

  3. David Brewster: Royal Victoria Hospital, Banjul, The Gambia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Immunology Group, Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, 0X3 9DU, UK

    Adrian V. S. Hill, Catherine E. M. Allsopp, Dominic Kwiatkowski, Nicholas M. Anstey, Patrick Twumasi, Pamela A. Rowe, Stephen Bennett, David Brewster, Andrew J. McMichael & Brian M. Greenwood

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  1. Adrian V. S. Hill
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Hill, A., Allsopp, C., Kwiatkowski, D. et al. Common West African HLA antigens are associated with protection from severe malaria. Nature 352, 595–600 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/352595a0

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