title: Molecular analysis of HLA class II genes in primary Sjögren's syndrome. A study of Israeli Jewish and Greek non-Jewish patients.
abstract: In an attempt to define the role of HLA class II genes in predisposition to primary Sjögren's syndrome, patients of two different ethnic groups (Israeli Jews and Greeks of non-Jewish origin) suffering from this disorder were studied. Oligonucleotide genotyping revealed the majority in both groups to carry either DRB1*1101 or DRB1*1104, alleles that are in linkage disequilibrium with DQB1*0301 and DQA1*0501. The high frequency of the two alleles in these SS patients is in contrast with the accepted association of primary SS with HLA-DR3 in Italian and American individuals. Molecular analysis of DQB1 and DQA1 alleles found in American Caucasian and American black SS (or SLE) patients demonstrated high frequencies of DQB1*0201 and DQA1*0501. The fact that the majority of SS patients, across racial and ethnic boundaries, carry a common allele, DQA1*0501, implies its involvement in the predisposition to primary SS. Based on sequence analysis and the computer imaging of the HLA class II molecule structure, a hypothetical model for the role of the DQ molecule in promoting primary SS is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Lautenberg Center for General and Tumor Immunology, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roitberg-Tambur
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Friedmann
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Safirman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Markitziu
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ben-Chetrit
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rubinow
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Moutsopoulos
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stavropoulos
authors.forename: F N
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: Skopouli
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Margalit
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D005802:Genes, MHC Class II / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D006115:Greece; D006682:HLA-DP Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D007585:Jews; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D006682:HLA-DP Antigens; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes