HLA-A, -B, -DRB1 allele frequencies and haplotypic association from DNA typing data of 7096 Korean cord blood units.

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) distribution in 7096 Korean cord blood (CB) units preserved at the public CB bank was analyzed by using the polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe (PCR-SSOP) method. A total of 14 HLA-A, 33 HLA-B, 13 HLA-DRB1 alleles and 2470 three-locus haplotypes were identified. The results are generally similar to those from the previous Korean studies, but the frequencies of less frequent haplotypes < 0.1% are more relevant and infrequent haplotypes with strong linkage disequilibrium were newly found because of the large sample size. Our results showed some similarities to those of other Asians but also some differences, suggesting a rationale for an Asian network for a hematopoietic stem-cell donor registry. Results from this large-scale analysis will be useful in Korean and Asian registry planning.