title: HLA allelic variants encoding DR11 in diffuse and limited systemic sclerosis in Caucasian women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated HLA class II alleles in women with systemic sclerosis (SSc), a rare disease that preferentially affects women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Specific alleles of DRB1, DQA1 and DQB1 were determined by DNA-based HLA typing for women with SSc (n = 102) and healthy women (n = 533). All study subjects were Caucasian. DRB1, DQA1 and DQB1 allele frequencies of women with SSc were compared with those of healthy women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among women with SSc, 29.4% (30/102) and among healthy women 10.7% (57/533) had DRB1*11. Allele frequencies were compared for women with SSc and healthy women (each woman has two alleles). The allele frequency of DRB1*11 was 15.7% (32/204 alleles) in SSc women and 5.8% (62/1066 alleles) in healthy women (P = 0.000002). The increase of DRB1*11 was found both in diffuse (P = 0.0001) and limited SSc (P = 0.002) (allele frequencies 15.0 and 17.2%, respectively). Among women with diffuse SSc, there was a disproportionate increase of the DRB1*1104 allele (P = 0.0004) with no increase of DRB1*1101 (P = 1.00). In contrast, in limited SSc the strongest association was with DRB1*1101 (P = 0.008), with a less significant increase of DRB1*1104 (P = 0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An increase of DRB1*11 in SSc is consistent with other reports. Although present in both diffuse and limited SSc disease subsets, the increase was predominantly due to over-representation of DRB1*1104 in women with diffuse SSc. Women with limited SSc had a preponderance of DRB1*1101, the most common allele in healthy women. DRB1*1104 and DRB1*1101 differ by a single amino acid at position 86, where the former has valine and the latter glycine.
authors.affiliation: Immunogenetics Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109, USA. lloubier@fhcrc.org
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Loubière
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Madeleine
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Mullarkey
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Galloway
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Furst
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Nelson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D059848:HLA-DQ alpha-Chains; D059866:HLA-DQ beta-Chains; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008875:Middle Aged; D045743:Scleroderma, Diffuse / Q000235:genetics; D045745:Scleroderma, Limited / Q000235:genetics; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; D059848:HLA-DQ alpha-Chains; D059866:HLA-DQ beta-Chains; C069050:HLA-DQA1 antigen; C069051:HLA-DQB1 antigen; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II