Document ID (ISN) | 100765 |
CIS number |
02-1800 |
ISSN - Serial title |
0271-3586 - American Journal of Industrial Medicine |
Year |
2002 |
Convention or series no. |
|
Author(s) |
Weston A., Ensey J., Kreiss K., Keshava C., McCanlies E. |
Title |
Racial differences in prevalence of a supratypic HLA-genetic marker immaterial to pre-employment testing for susceptibility to chronic beryllium disease |
Bibliographic information |
June 2002, Vol.41, No.6, p.457-465. Illus. 41 ref. |
Abstract |
A genetic polymorphism in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA), the DPβ1 gene, is known to be associated with berylliosis. The specific disease marker is called HLA-DPβ1E69. This article examines the predictive value of a pre-employment screening programme of a beryllium materials manufacturer in which applicants are tested for HLA-DPβ1E69. Polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses were used to determine HLA-DPβ1E69 population frequencies in various ethnic groups. Allelic/carrier frequencies were found to be 0.21/0.33, 0.24/0.40, 0.27/0.47 and 0.38/0.59 for Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics and Chinese, respectively. Ranges of positive predictive values for a genetic test based on HLA-DPβ1E69 in these populations were calculated to be 8.3-14.3% for carriers with an assumed disease frequency of 5%. For high risk subgroups with assumed disease frequencies of 15%, the range of positive predictive values was found to span between 24.9-43.0%. These estimates suggest that using HLA-DPβ1E69 genotyping for pre-employment screening has a low positive predictive value, which varies little among racial groups where carrier frequencies differ significantly. |
Descriptors (primary) |
race-linked differences; beryllium; genetic screening; individual susceptibility; berylliosis |
Descriptors (secondary) |
pre-employment medical examinations; statistical evaluation |
Document type |
D - Periodical articles |
Country / State or Province | USA |
Subject(s) |
Occupational pathology
|
Broad subject area(s) |
Chemical safety
|
Browse category(ies) |
Inorganic substances Pneumoconioses
|