%0 Journal Article
%T High-Resolution HLA-B Allele and Haplotype Frequencies in the Qatari Population: Implications for Pre-Emptive Pharmacogenetic Screening of Drug Hypersensitivity
%A Daniel Braun
%A Jonas Eckert
%A Tobias Lang
%A Lucas Schneider
%A Felix Wirth
%J Specialty Journal of Pharmacognosy, Phytochemistry, and Biotechnology
%@ 3062-441X
%D 2025
%V 5
%N 1
%R 10.51847/43hsE3qngg
%P 77-87
%X Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules appear on the surface of antigen-presenting cells and are essential for adaptive immune function. Within class I genes, several HLA-B variants have been linked to adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and are applied as pharmacogenetic indicators. Although ADRs contribute substantially to hospital admissions and deaths, information describing the distribution of HLA-B pharmacogenetic markers across Arab populations remains limited. In this work, we assessed the occurrence of key HLA-B pharmacogenomic markers in individuals from Qatar. High-throughput sequencing data from 1,098 Qatari participants were analyzed for HLA-B genotyping using HLA-HD version 1.4.0 and the IPD-IMGT/HLA reference database. Pharmacogenetic HLA-B markers were additionally retrieved from the HLA Adverse Drug Reaction Database. Altogether, 469 principal HLA-B markers relevant to pharmacogenetics were detected. HLA-B51:01 showed the highest frequency (26.67%) in the Qatari cohort and is linked to ADRs caused by phenytoin and clindamycin. The next most common allele was HLA-B58:01 (6.56%), associated with allopurinol-related reactions. HLA-B*44:03 ranked third and is tied to phenytoin-induced hypersensitivity. The presence of these prevalent HLA-B markers supports the value of implementing a pharmacogenetic screening strategy in Qatar to reduce drug-related hypersensitivity events in a cost-effective manner.
%U https://galaxypub.co/article/high-resolution-hla-b-allele-and-haplotype-frequencies-in-the-qatari-population-implications-for-pr-ciiclodkylbhr0r