title: A routine assay for the direct analysis of HLA-DR-related shared epitope and B27 alleles in chronic inflammatory arthritis.
abstract: Knowledge of the genetic background of patients with inflammatory arthritis may be useful for disease management. The main markers are the HLA-DR-associated Shared Epitope (SE) for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and HLA-B27 for ankylosing spondylitis. We have developed a simple molecular biology-based test to provide this essential information. HLA targets are amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), then simultaneously analyzed using 16 individual hybridization reactions in two 8-well ELISA strips with colorimetric detection. Concordance was evaluated using a cohort of RA patients with known genotype. Using this new assay, 100% concordance was observed with conventional genotyping in RA patients both for HLA-DR SE and B27 genotypes. Seventy-three percent of the patients with destructive RA had at least one susceptible allele within SE, compared to 38% of those patients with non-destructive disease. This new assay, which requires minute amount of blood, could be used to determine the genetic background of inflammatory arthritis, particularly in non-specialized settings and for large-scale clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: bioMérieux, Chemin de l'Orme, 69280 Marcy l'Etoile, France. bruno_mougin@eu.biomerieux.com
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mougin
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Garnero
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Borel
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Compagnon
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Barbalat
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Marotte
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Miossec
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D001168:Arthritis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005819:Genetic Markers; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen / Q000235:genetics*; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D005819:Genetic Markers; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens