title: Is HLA-DRW13 (W6) associated with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy in Arab patients?
abstract: In a study of 32 unrelated Arab patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), we compared the frequencies of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and II alleles with those of unrelated healthy controls. A significant difference between the phenotypic frequencies in JME patients and controls was observed for DRW13, the split of DRW6 (37.5 vs 11% of controls). The strength of association as measured by the relative risk was 4.85 for this antigen (p = 0.002). The possible association of JME with HLA-DRW6 recently reported in Caucasians was confirmed in this study. This finding speaks for the homogeneity of the disease among Arabic and Caucasian JME patients. The existence of this association is evidence of a locus in the HLA region that influences expression of JME.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, KKUH, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Obeid
authors.forename: M O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: el Rab
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Daif
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Panayiotopoulos
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Halim
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bahakim
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bamgboye
mesh_terms: D004831:Epilepsies, Myoclonic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D059810:HLA-DR Serological Subtypes; D015808:HLA-DR6 Antigen / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000235:genetics*; D012306:Risk; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000208:ethnology
chemical_list: D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D059810:HLA-DR Serological Subtypes; C097337:HLA-DR13 antigen; D015808:HLA-DR6 Antigen