Hu CQ, Song XM, Teng YS, Guo H. Revisiting HLA-DQA1*05 in Asian inflammatory bowel disease cohorts: Ethnic variations in genetic susceptibility to immunogenicity. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(5): 115120 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i5.115120]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Hong Guo, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing University, No. 118 Xingguang Avenue, Liangjiang New Area, Chongqing 401147, China. hguo_cgh2021@163.com
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Gastroenterology & Hepatology
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Letter to the Editor
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Feb 7, 2026 (publication date) through Jan 28, 2026
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World Journal of Gastroenterology
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1007-9327
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Hu CQ, Song XM, Teng YS, Guo H. Revisiting HLA-DQA1*05 in Asian inflammatory bowel disease cohorts: Ethnic variations in genetic susceptibility to immunogenicity. World J Gastroenterol 2026; 32(5): 115120 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i5.115120]
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 7, 2026; 32(5): 115120 Published online Feb 7, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v32.i5.115120
Revisiting HLA-DQA1*05 in Asian inflammatory bowel disease cohorts: Ethnic variations in genetic susceptibility to immunogenicity
Chao-Qun Hu, Xiao-Mei Song, Yong-Sheng Teng, Hong Guo
Chao-Qun Hu, Xiao-Mei Song, Yong-Sheng Teng, Hong Guo, Department of Gastroenterology, Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401147, China
Author contributions: Hu CQ wrote the original draft; Song XM and Teng YS participated in the drafting of the manuscript; Guo H contributed to conceptualization, writing, reviewing, and editing the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by the Science and Health Joint Medical Research Program of Chongqing Municipality, No. 2024ZDXM009.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hong Guo, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing University, No. 118 Xingguang Avenue, Liangjiang New Area, Chongqing 401147, China. hguo_cgh2021@163.com
Received: October 9, 2025 Revised: November 24, 2025 Accepted: December 16, 2025 Published online: February 7, 2026 Processing time: 112 Days and 8.3 Hours
Abstract
We read with great interest the article by Weng et al, wherein the authors investigated human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles linked to anti-drug antibody (ADA) formation in Taiwanese patients with inflammatory bowel disease. They reported that HLA-DQA1*05, a major risk allele in European cohorts, demonstrated no association with ADA development in Taiwanese patients. Instead, novel alleles emerge: HLA-C*03:04:01 correlating strongly with anti-infliximab ADAs and HLA-B*15:18:01 with anti-adalimumab ADAs. However, this finding contrasts with evidence from large cohort studies, wherein HLA-DQA1*05 consistently predicted ADA formation, particularly for infliximab. This letter aimed to contextualize these findings within the broader literature and to lay the ground for further analysis of ethnic variations and the implications for personalized medicine in inflammatory bowel disease. This divergence may suggest how genetic architecture shapes immunogenicity risk across ethnicities.
Core Tip: This letter builds upon Weng et al’s study in Taiwan that incorporated comparative evidence from Asia and Europe toward the investigation of racial disparities in human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-related immunogenicity of anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy. Although Weng et al did not identify an association between HLA-DQA1*05 and the development of anti-drug antibody against infliximab and adalimumab, other larger-scale studies across Chinese and European cohorts demonstrated a significant correlation between HLA-DQA1*05 and anti-drug antibody formation, particularly with infliximab, highlighting the genetic diversity within Asia. The novel alleles reported by Weng et al warrant further validation. Until further comprehensive, large-scale racial cohort data becomes available, clinicians should prioritize therapeutic drug monitoring and individualized treatment approaches. Furthermore, HLA allele screening for inflammatory bowel disease treatment decisions requires support from larger, genetically diverse cohort studies.
