Genetic distinctions between types 1 and 2 autoimmune hepatitis.
OBJECTIVE
Our aim was to determine whether alleles affecting susceptibility to type 1 autoimmune hepatitis in the United States occur as commonly in German patients with type 2 disease.


METHODS
DNA specimens from 12 German patients with type 2 autoimmune hepatitis were tested for class II alleles of the major histocompatibility complex by polymerase chain reaction using sequence specific primers. Eighty-six American patients with type 1 disease and 102 Caucasoid normal subjects from the United States were tested in a similar manner.


RESULTS
American patients with type 1 autoimmune hepatitis had DRB1*03 alleles more commonly than the German patients with type 2 disease (51% vs 17%, p = 0.03) and DRB1*0301 occurred more frequently in the type 1 patients (51% vs 17%, p = 0.03). The frequency of DRB1*04 alleles was also higher in the type 1 patients after exclusion of the DR1*03 alleles (64% vs 20%, p = 0.01). In contrast, patients with type 2 disease more commonly had DRB1*07 (p = 0.003), DRB1*15 (p = 0.004), and DQB1*06 (p = 0.0004). DRB1*07 (p = 0.005), DRB4*01 (p = 0.03), and DQB1*06 (p = 0.03) also occurred more frequently in the type 2 patients from Germany than in the normal subjects from the United States, although none of these frequencies were statistically significant by an adjusted p value.


CONCLUSIONS
German patients with type 2 autoimmune hepatitis do not have the same susceptibility alleles as American patients with type 1 disease. Regional differences in prevalence may reflect the genetic profiles of the populations at risk.
Czaja
A J
AJ
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA.
Kruger
M
M
Santrach
P J
PJ
Moore
S B
SB
Manns
M P
MP
D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D017931:DNA Primers; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005858:Germany; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; D019693:Hepatitis, Autoimmune / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014481:United States
D017931:DNA Primers; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; C553502:HLA-DRB1*03:01 antigen; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II