HLA-dependent TNF secretory response may provide an immunogenetic link between pre-eclampsia and type 1 diabetes mellitus.
Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) may be relevant to the pathogenesis of both pre-eclampsia and type 1 diabetes, and there is evidence than human TNF alpha responses to stimuli are HLA-DR dependent. To test the hypothesis that pre-eclampsia and diabetes may share a common immunogenetic susceptibility, 92 pre-eclampsia patients were compared with 264 general population controls. The relative frequencies of individual HLA-DR antigens in pre-eclamptics were found to correlate with reported relative TNF alpha responses for those antigens. Moreover, putative high responder HLA-DR1, DR3 and DR4 alleles were significantly (p < 0.001) more frequent in pre-eclampsia patients (79%) than in controls (59%). This hypothesis could explain the weak association between pre-eclampsia and diabetes and may help resolve the apparently conflicting literature on HLA in pre-eclampsia.
Kilpatrick
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D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*
D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha