Human leukocyte antigen-DRB1 gene polymorphism and aplastic anemia: A meta-analysis

The human leukocyte antigen-DRB1 (HLA-DRB1) gene plays key roles in mediating immune response and activating autoreactive T-cells during aplastic anemia (AA) etiology. However, inconsistency appeared in the associations between HLA-DRB1 polymorphism and AA. We aimed to comprehensively clarify their associations in the meta-analysis. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Science Direct, SinoMed, WanFang Data, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Chongqing VIP Chinese Science Database were searched from January 2000 to June 2022. Statistical analysis was performed in STATA 15.0 and Comprehensive Meta-analysis Software 3.0. RESULTS: A total of 16 studies with 4428 patients were eventually analyzed. The results of the meta-analysis suggested that HLA-DRB1*0301 could decrease the risk of AA (odd ratio (OR) = 0.600, 95% CI: 0.427, 0.843). Besides, HLA-DRB1*0901 and HLA-DRB1*1501 were risk factors of AA (OR = 1.591, 95% CI: 1.045, 2.424; OR = 2.145, 95% CI: 1.501, 3.063; respectively). Sensitivity analysis showed heterogeneity among included studies. CONCLUSION: HLA-DRB1 polymorphisms could play roles in the occurrence of AA, however more population-based studies with larger sample sizes are required to certify our findings.