Academy of Medical Sciences of I.R. Iran Archives of Iranian Medicine 1029-2977 25 12 2022 12 01 Association Between Human Leukocyte Antigens and Graft-Versus-Host Disease Occurrence in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation – A 10-Year Experience on Iranian Patients 798 806 10.34172/aim.2022.125 EN Mohsen Hamidpour https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3658-1551 Elham Roshandel https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3698-4342 Haniyeh Ghaffari Nazari Ghazaleh Sankanian Hossein Bonakchi Maryam Salimi Sina Salari https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8298-2578 Journal Article 10.34172/aim.2022.125 2020 08 25 2021 11 20 Background: Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules mediate critical roles in determining responsiveness or non-responsiveness of the immune system, especially in transplantation. Some studies have shown a possible association between certain HLA alleles and some allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) outcomes such as acute/chronic graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD/cGVHD) and overall survival (OS). In the current study, we investigated any possible association of HLA subclasses and acute/chronic GVHD occurrence as well as OS in patients receiving HLA-matched sibling allo-HSCT. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the association of various HLA alleles with the incidence of aGVHD, cGVHD, and OS of 162 patients who received allo-HSCT from HLA-matched sibling between 2009-2018 at Taleghani hospital in Tehran. Results: We found that the incidence of aGVHD grades II-IV was higher among patients who had HLA-B*07 (P=0.031) and HLA-DRB1*07 (P=0.052). The presence of HLA-A*01 was associated with 4.5-fold greater odds of incidence in the extensive-type of cGVHD (P=0.009). Furthermore, HLA-A*03 (P=0.089), HLA-B*13(P=0.013), HLA-B*40 (P=0.042), HLA-DRB1*02 (P=0.074), and HLA-DRB1*04 (P=0.039) were associated with a lower rate of OS. Conclusion: This study suggests that certain HLA alleles might influence the incidence and severity of acute or chronic GVHD in the context of HLA-matched sibling allo-HSCT. In addition, some specific HLA alleles help predict OS in allo-HSCT recipients. These results might be helpful in estimating the incidence of aGVHD, cGVHD, and OS as well as designing personalized therapy.