Abstract: Objective To explore the correlation between the polymorphism of HLA-DRB1、DQB1 genes and the susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in a Uyghur population from Xinjiang.  Methods Using case-control study, HLA-DRB1、DQB1 genotypes in 226 PTB cases and 231 healthy controls from Uyghur population in Xinjiang were analyzed with polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP), in which gene frequency (GF) and odds ratio (OR) were calculated and compared.  Results 1.The frequency of HLA-DRB1*11 gene in PTB cases was significantly higher than that in the healthy controls (OR=4.388, 95%CI=1.618—11.905, P_c＜0.05), their GFs were 4.5% and 1.1% respectively. The frequency of HLA-DRB1*04 gene in PTB cases was higher than that in the healthy controls, but there was the statistical difference (OR=1.686, 95%CI=1.060—2.684, P_c>0.05), their GFs were 12.8% and 8.4% respectively.   2. The frequency of HLA-DQB1*0201 gene in PTB cases was significantly higher than that in the healthy controls (OR=3.379, 95%CI=2.302—4.960, P_c＜0.05), their GFs were 40.1% and 19.2% respectively. The HLA-DQB1*0301/4 gene occurred less frequently in TB patients than in controls, but there was the statistical difference (OR=0.561, 95%CI=0.334—0.941, P_c＞0.05), their GFs were 6.2% and 10.3% respectively.  Conclusion HLA-DRB1*11 and DQB1*0201 alleles were evidently correlated to the incidence of tuberculosis, maybe susceptible genes of tuberculosis in Xinjiang Uyghur population.

Key words: tuberculosis,pulmonary, HLA-DR antigens, HLA-DQ antigens, polymorphism,genetic, genetic predisposition to disease, Xinjiang