title: Does HLA-dependent chimerism underlie the pathogenesis of juvenile dermatomyositis?
abstract: Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) is a multisystem autoimmune disease that at times resembles chronic graft-vs-host disease. This led us to suggest that nonself cells may play a role in the disease process. In this study we examined the relationship between HLA genotype and the presence of maternally derived chimeric cells in JDM patients and healthy controls, and assessed immunologic activity in the chimeric cells. We identified chimeric cells more often in children with JDM (60 of 72) than in their unaffected siblings (11 of 48) or in healthy controls (5 of 29). The presence of chimerism in the JDM patients, their healthy siblings, and unaffected control children was associated with a HLA-DQA1*0501 allele in the mother (p = 0.011). Further, we show that maternally transferred chimeric T cells are responsive to the host's (JDM childs') lymphocytes (33.75 +/- 8.4 IFN-gamma-producing cells from JDM cells vs 5.0 +/- 1.25 from maternal cells), and that this is a memory response. These combined data indicate that chimeric cells play a direct role in the JDM disease process and that the mother's HLA genotype facilitates the transfer and/or persistence of maternal cells in the fetal circulation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic and Medical School, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. reed.ann18@mayo.edu
authors.forename: Ann M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McNallan
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wettstein
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vehe
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ober
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002678:Chimera / Q000276:immunology*; D003882:Dermatomyositis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D059866:HLA-DQ beta-Chains; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D009679:Nuclear Family; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; D059866:HLA-DQ beta-Chains; C069051:HLA-DQB1 antigen