Distribution of HLA-DRB1 genes in patients with sporadic ankylosing spondylitis in the south of Spain.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the relationship between the presence of different HLA-DRB1 genes and predisposition to develop a sporadic form of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in a demographically well-defined population.


METHODS
One hundred fifteen selected patients with sporadic (non-familial) forms of AS from six different cities and 748 bone marrow donors as control group. All individuals were typed for HLA-B27 by flow cytometry with monoclonal antibodies and PCR -SSP, as well as for HLA-DRB using the Dynal ELI SSO HLA-DRB Test (Dynal AS, Oslo, Norway). The Inno-Lipa DRB Decoder (Innogenetics NV Zwijndrecht, Belgium), was used for high-resolution HLA-DRB typing.


RESULTS
The presence of the DRB1*01 antigen in the studied population is significantiy higher in B27 positive healthy individuals (bone marrow donors) than in B27 positive AS patients; also, DRB1*01 is higher in B27 negative AS patients than 827 negative controls. The frequency of DRB1*03 is higher in B27 negative controls than B27 negative AS patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study suggest that DRB1*01 antigens might be involved in the development of sporadic forms of ankylosing spondylitis in HLA-B27 negative individuals in the studied area.
Perez-Guijo
V
V
Rheumatology Service, Reina Sofía University Hospital, Cordoba, Spain.
Muñoz
E
E
Escudero
A
A
Veroz
R
R
Sánchez
M
M
Muñoz-Villanueva
M C
MC
González
R
R
Peña
J
J
Collantes-Estevez
E
E
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; D006239:Haplotypes; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013030:Spain; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000235:genetics*
D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains