Abstract: Objective: To investigate the association of human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-DRB1 allele polymorphisms with dental caries among Uygur children in Xinjiang. Methods: A total of 80 Uygur children in Xinjiang were enrolled for this study. Among them,40 children were diagnosed as high dental caries and the other 40 children were healthy controls. All 80 children were tested by polymerase chain reaction sequence specific primers (PCR - SSP) DNA parting technology to study the HLA-DRB1 allele polymorphism and dental caries. Results: Thirteen specific loci were detected in HLA-DRB1 locus in high caries group and control group.Two groups of allele frequencies distribution were similar. The expression of HLA-DRB1 *01 gene was the highest (≥47.5%), while expression of HLA-DRB1* 08 and *09 genes was the lowest (≤12.5%).The frequencies of HLA-DRB1*11 and DRB1*13 alleles in the high caries group (40.0% and 47.5%) were significantly higher than those in the control group (17.5% and 17.5%) (P<0.05, OR =3.143 and 3.619). The frequencies of HLA-DRB1* 04 and DRB1*07 alleles in the high caries group (15.0% and 17.5%) were significantly lower than those in the control group (37.5% and 50.0%) (P<0.05, OR =0.294 and 0.294). Conclusion: The susceptibility to caries among Uygur children in Xinjiang is related to the HLA-DRB1 allele. The HLA-DRB1* 11 and *13 might be the susceptible alleles for caries, and the HLA-DRB1* 04 and *07 might be the protected alleles for caries in this population.

Key words: Dental caries, Human leucocyte antigen, Genetic polymorphism , Uygur children