title: The MICA-A4 triplet repeats polymorphism in the transmembrane region confers additional risk for development of psoriatic arthritis in the Croatian population.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate possible differences in the frequencies of alleles at the HLA loci and at microsatellite loci within the HLA region among patients suffering from psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and healthy controls. Fifty-eight Croatian PsA patients (28 male and 30 female) and 157 healthy unrelated controls were typed for HLA alleles (A, B, Cw and DRB1) by the polymerase chain reaction-sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) method, while microsatellite alleles (D6S265, D6S273, MHC class I chain-related gene (MICA) and MIB) were analysed by electrophoresis in an ALFexpress sequencer (Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden). The findings from this study were: (1) the frequencies of B*39 and B*57 were significantly increased in PsA patients; (2) differences in the frequencies of B*13 and B*27 were not statistically significant after correction; (3) the B*0702, B*18, and B*38 alleles were decreased in patients only before correction; (4) none of the alleles at other HLA loci tested were associated with PsA in Croatia; (5) polymorphism at D6S265, D6S273, and MIB microsatellites in patients did not show any statistically significant differences when compared to controls; (6) the increase in the MICA-A4 allele frequency in PsA patients was independent of the B*39 and B*57 alleles.
authors.affiliation: National Referral Organ Transplantation and Tissue Typing Centre, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia. zgrubic@kbc-zagreb.hr
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Grubić
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Perić
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Eeèuk-Jelicić
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zunec
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stingl
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Curković
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kerhin-Brkljacić
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D015535:Arthritis, Psoriatic / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D017523:Croatia; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012306:Risk; D018911:Trinucleotide Repeats
chemical_list: D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; C099187:MHC class I-related chain A