Balancing selection in the extended MHC region maintains a subset of alleles with opposite risk profile for different autoimmune diseases

Abstract

Cagliani et al.: Balancing selection in the extended MHC region maintains a subset of alleles with opposite risk profile for different autoimmune diseases. Genome Biology 2010 11(Suppl 1):P38.

Diversity of HLA Class I and Class II blocks and conserved extended haplotypes in Lacandon Mayans

“…Several studies have described HLA class I and class II alleles and haplotypes in different Native American groups from Mexico [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] and Latin America [33][34][35][36] , including Lacandons 37 . The study of HLA diversity in Native Americans is relevant because evidence suggests that balancing selection at different HLA loci may be involved in the prevalence of inflammatory or infectious diseases in these populations [38][39][40][41][42][43] . Also, numerous examples of novel alleles have been reported in Native Americans [44][45][46] , suggesting that pathogen-driven selection of new mutations could be critical in the adaptation to endemic pathogens, particularly after migration 4,5 .…”