Abstract
Genetic analyses indicate that HLA complex genes can be involved in susceptibility
to autoimmune myasthenia gravis (MG). Various HLA alleles serve as genetic elements
that either predispose to or protect against MG. This study investigates the probable
relationship between HLA-DQ allele polymorphisms and MG cases in northern China. The
HLA-DQA1 and DQB1 alleles were determined by polymerase chain reaction/sequence-specific
primers (PCR-SSP) in 84 MG patients, and the results were compared to 293 healthy
controls. Our findings indicate that DQ A1*0401(P=0.008, OR: 2.5, 95%CI: 1.24–3.07) and B1*0301(P=0.000, OR: 2.29, 95%CI: 1.48–3.54) were the most frequent allele; the frequencies
of DQA1*0103(P=0.000, OR:0.24, 95%CI 0.13–0.49) and DQB1*0601(P=0.001, OR:0.40, 95%CI 0.22–0.50) were significantly decreased in MG patients compared
with healthy controls. Patients with thymomatous MG were positively associated with
DQA1 *0401(P=0.011, OR:4.57, 95% CI 1.40–14.90) and DQB1 *0604 (P=0.001, OR:4.01, 95% CI 1.65–9.73) as compared to MG patients without thymoma. Different
genetic mechanisms may exist between MG patients with thymoma and those without thymoma.
The HLA-DQ associations in MG subgroups suggest that disease heterogeneity may be
influenced by different genes or alleles.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 15, 2011
Accepted:
August 16,
2011
Received in revised form:
August 11,
2011
Received:
January 20,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
