Abstract

 Background and Objectives

 The distribution of HLA alleles varies among different ethnic populations. Obtaining HLA data for different ethnic groups will be helpful to determine donor recruitment goals and strategies in unrelated stem cell registries.

 Materials and Methods

 Based on the data available from the Iranian Stem Cell Donor Registry, the frequency rates of HLA-A, B, DRB1 alleles evaluated by PCR-SSP method were reported 1513 individuals living in Tehran city with six different ethnicities (Fars, Azeri, Kurd, Lur, Gilak, and Mazani) were the participants.

 Results

 Out of 1513 participants, Fars and Azeri ethnic groups had the highest number with 63.12% and 20.02%, respectively. Twenty one HLA-A, thirty-one HLA-B, and thirteen HLA-DRB1 alleles were observed. Data analysis among different ethnicities showed no significant differences between Fars and Azeries except for HLA-DRB1*33 frequency (p< 0.005). Significant differences between Fars and Kurds were seen in HLA-A*03/11 and HLA-B*08/51 frequencies. There were significant differences between Fars and Gilaks in HLA-A*03/26, HLA-B*38/52 frequencies (p< 0.05).

 Conclusions

 The number of reported alleles in this study was similar to previous ones. There is not much alleles diversity, despite a few differences, across the different ethnic groups.

 Key words: HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA DRB1, Allele Frequency, Iran