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. 1991 Aug 15;352(6336):595-600.
doi: 10.1038/352595a0.

Common west African HLA antigens are associated with protection from severe malaria

A V Hill  1 , C E Allsopp, D Kwiatkowski, N M Anstey, P Twumasi, P A Rowe, S Bennett, D Brewster, A J McMichael, B M Greenwood
Affiliations

Common west African HLA antigens are associated with protection from severe malaria

A V Hill et al. Nature. .

Abstract

A large case-control study of malaria in West African children shows that a human leucocyte class I antigen (HLA-Bw53) and an HLA class II haplotype (DRB1*1302-DQB1*0501), common in West Africans but rare in other racial groups, are independently associated with protection from severe malaria. In this population they account for as great a reduction in disease incidence as the sickle-cell haemoglobin variant. These data support the hypothesis that the extraordinary polymorphism of major histocompatibility complex genes has evolved primarily through natural selection by infectious pathogens.

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