Abstract
One-way mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) tests were carried out on three strains of Korean native goat, A, D and E, which had been fixed by DRB/DQB haplotype in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II region. In the case of MLR combined within the same strain, the values for the stimulation index (S.I.) were from 1.08±1.26 (within the D strain) to 3.19±2.28 (within the A strain) . On the other hand, in the case of MLR combined for the different strains, the S.I. values were from 10.47±4.31 (E strain as the stimulator and A strain as the responder) to 36.08±7.42 (D strain as the stimulator and E strain as the responder) . The difference between the S.I, values for the same and different strains was clearly significant (p<0.001) . To elucidate the effect of a combination of the DRB/DQB haplotype on the S.I. values, A and E strain and AE heterozygote animals were used in the MLR tests. With MLR combined heterozygote as the stimulater and homozygote as the responder (A or E strain), the mean S.I. value was 9.62±3.9. This value showed high levels in the different strains, but showed a significant difference from that of the same strain (p<0.001) . On the other hand, with MLR combined homozygote as the responder (A or E strain) and a heterozygote as the stimulater, the mean S.I. value was 1.46±1.17. This value showed low levels as well as within the same strain, but showed a significant difference from that of different strains (P<0.001) . These results indicated that the responses in the MLR tests were associated with the DRB/DQB haplotypes. This suggested that at least both MHC class II DR and DQ antigens of goats were related to the immune-responses equivalent to the human MHC (HLA) class II antigens. Moreover, we concluded that Korean native goat strains fixed for DRB/DQB haplotype possessed an effective genetic background as a large experimental animal for organ transplant studies.
