Dominique Charron, President |
A Message
from the 12th Workshop
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Although the 12th International Histocompatibility Workshop and Conference was
concluded almost a year ago, the task of the workshop's chairpersons and committees
is far from finished. The past summer and autumn have been busy for all of us as we
strive to provide the HLA community with the final and most complete report of the
data. Some data had to be completed by additional experimental work, while all
components needed further analysis and refinements. The task is now over, allowing
us for the first time to have an accurate picture of the 12th IHWC activities and
achievements. I do not intend to give an extensive summary of the 12th IHWC in this
short comment, but I must first of all say that the numbers are impressive. The
number of participants reached 650 in Saint Malo and over 1,400 in Paris, which is a
historical high, reflecting the enthusiasm and commitment of our community which has
kept its momentum over the past 30 years. The data generated by the participating
laboratories is no less impressive: 5,000 cells were analyzed by the 18 Allele and
Haplotype Societies (AHS) in 200 laboratories using 800 alloantisera and 100 monoclonal
antibodies; 15 new class I alleles and 8 new class II variants completely or partially
sequenced; and a very large number of new and rare haplotypes found. One hundred
distinct populations were studied in the Human Diversity Component which for the
first time used molecular typing for both class II and class I. Following the 12th
IHWC, the updated HLA nomenclature now includes over 300 class I and 350 class II
alleles, representing two ever increasing and almost frightening numbers.
Sequencing-based typing, initiated at the early phase of the workshop as an
experimental procedure in 5 pioneering laboratories, was commonly in use at the
end of the workshop in over 30 laboratories. HLA class I DNA typing also developed
rapidly during the workshop period. Medicine was, for the first time, chosen as an
objective of an IHWC. The largest-ever HLA and Disease epidemiology analysis was
successfully conducted during the 12th IHWC. This is best illustrated by the 2,438
cases of IDDM, 1,502 cases of JCA, 533 cases of Grave's disease and 363 cases of
HIV infections that were studied, allowing a precise evaluation of the impact of
specific HLA alleles on the different clinical and immunological parameters of these
diseases.
Detailed information, tables and analysis will appear in the proceedings of
the 12th IHWC, scheduled to be available soon. A slight delay in publication was
necessary for the editors and publisher to verify, validate and edit the reports.
An overview of the 12th Workshop was also presented on April 2 at the European
Foundation of Immunogenetics (EFI) conference in Budapest.
The 12th IHWC was instrumental in developing a faster and more effective method of
communication by electronic mail between all our laboratories, which now can and
will be used by the HLA community. We should all, and particularly myself, be
extremely grateful to Renée Fauchet and the members of the European Committee,
E. Albert, J. Bodmer, A. Cambon, J. Hors, A. Piazza, I. Schreuder and L. Degos for
their contributions and diligent and effective work in organizing this unique
scientific adventure. On their behalf I would like to pronounce that « le 12ème
Workshop est mort; vive le 13ème Workshop.» It will open a new era, a new century
and a new millennium for HLA, which will be viewed with enthusiasm and dedication
by the world's scientific and medical HLA community. |
