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Association of Rheumatoid Arthritis with HLA‐DR1 and HLA‐DR4 in Hungary
Author(s) -
KAPITÁNY ANIKÓ,
ZILAHI ERIKA,
SZÁNTÓ SÁNDOR,
SZÜCS GABRIELLA,
SZABÓ ZOLTÁN,
VÉGVÁRI ANIKÓ,
RASS PÉTER,
SIPKA SÁNDOR,
SZEGEDI GYULA,
SZEKANECZ ZOLTÁN
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1361.067
Subject(s) - allele , genotyping , rheumatoid arthritis , human leukocyte antigen , medicine , immunology , allele frequency , hla drb1 , genotype , population , genetics , biology , antigen , gene , environmental health
A bstract : Susceptibility to and outcome for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been associated with particular HLA‐DR alleles, but these alleles vary among ethnic groups and geographic areas. The frequency of HLA‐DR1 (HLA‐DRB1*0101, DRB1*0102) and HLA‐DR4 (DRB1*0401, DRB1*0404) alleles is elevated among Caucasian patients with RA. We studied a northeastern Hungarian population of RA patients to determine the frequency of HLA‐DR1 and HLA‐DR4 phenotypes in this population and to compare it with healthy control subjects, as well as to investigate whether the presence of these alleles could be a marker for RA. We performed HLA‐DRB1 genotyping (DRB1*01‐DRB1*16) in 83 RA patients and 55 healthy controls using polymerase chain reaction with sequence‐specific primers (PCR‐SSP). In the case of HLA‐DR1‐ or HLA‐DR4‐positive patients, the DR1 and DR4 subtypes were also determined. The frequency of HLA‐DR4 alleles was significantly higher in RA patients than in controls (31.3 vs. 10.9%; P < .05 ). HLA‐DR1, in particular, tended to be more frequent in patients than in controls (32.5 vs. 18.1%). Among the HLA‐DR4 subtypes, DRB1*0401 and DRB1*0404 were the most common alleles found in both groups. However, no significant differences were seen in the frequency of HLA‐DRB1*0401 and HLA‐DRB1*0404 between RA patients and controls. In contrast, HLA‐DRB1*0405 and HLA‐DRB1*0408 were significantly more common in RA patients than in control subjects. Among HLA‐DR1 subtypes, the DRB1*0101 allele was most commonly detected, but HLA‐DRB1*0101 as well as DRB1*0102 and DRB1*0105 were similarly frequent in RA patients and controls. HLA‐DR12 was more common among controls than in RA patients (18.1 vs. 0%; P < .05 ). Our results generally agree with the findings in other Caucasian populations. Nonetheless, we found differences in the frequency of HLA‐DR1 and HLA‐DR4 subtypes among Hungarian patients compared with reports from other geographic regions (e.g., Finland and Asia). Our data suggest that in northeastern Hungary, HLA‐DR4 as well as its subtypes DRB1*0405 and DRB1*0408 may be involved in susceptibility to RA, but HLA‐DR1 may not. In addition, the presence of HLA‐DR12, at least in Hungary, may protect from this disease.