
Studies carried out in various populations have reported an association between some HLA specificities and susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). In this study, the distribution of class II HLA-DQB1 alleles was determined in 94 PTB patients and 80 apparently healthy subjects from Iraqi population by single specific primer-polymerase chain reaction (SSP-PCR). Out of the five encountered HLA-DQB1 alleles, DQB1*03 showed a significant (P = 0.005) increased percentage frequency in PTB patients compared to controls (71.3 vs. 50.0%). The RR of such positive association was 2.48; while the EF was 0.43. The present study suggests that HLA-DQB1*03 allele may be associated with susceptibility to PTB in Iraqi population.