Discrimination between HLA-DR1 (DRB1*0101) and DR'Br' (DRB1*0103) using sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes.

Serological identification of the HLA-DQw1(w5)-associated or HLA-DQw3(w7)-associated DR'Br' (DRB1*0103) allele cannot be accomplished in the presence of a second DQw1(w5)-positive or DQw3(w7)-positive haplotype, respectively. DNA-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis assists in identification of DR'Br', though not in the presence of DR1. We describe an alternative or complementary method for identification of DR'Br' using two oligonucleotide probes which target HLA-DRB1 gene HV3 regions.