HLA class II alleles are not a general susceptibility factor in Guillain-Barré syndrome.
OBJECTIVE
To assess whether human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 alleles confer susceptibility to Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) or are related to specific clinical or serologic subgroups of GBS.


METHODS
The HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 loci were genotyped by PCR amplification with sequence-specific primers in 164 well-documented Dutch patients with GBS and 207 healthy Dutch control subjects. Patients with GBS were divided into subgroups based on clinical features, severity of disease, antecedent infection, and anti-ganglioside antibodies. Data were compared with those of all case-control HLA studies in GBS performed previously.


RESULTS
In this case-control study, HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 alleles did not differ between GBS patients and control subjects. The frequency of HLA-DRB1*01 was increased in patients who needed mechanical ventilation (odds ratio 4.2; 95% CI 1.9 to 9.6; p(c) = 0.02). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that this association was independent of the severity of paresis and the presence of cranial nerve involvement (all p < 0.05). There was a tendency toward an association between certain HLA alleles and several anti-ganglioside antibodies.


CONCLUSIONS
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II antigens are not a general susceptibility factor in Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). However, HLA class II alleles may be a determinant in distinct subgroups of GBS, indicating the need for further exploration in large-scale studies.
Geleijns
K
K
Department of Neurology, Erasmus Medical Center, PO Box 1738, Rm. Ee 2230, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands. c.geleijns@erasmusmc.nl
Schreuder
G M Th
GM
Jacobs
B C
BC
Sintnicolaas
K
K
van Koningsveld
R
R
Meulstee
J
J
Laman
J D
JD
van Doorn
P A
PA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005802:Genes, MHC Class II / Q000235:genetics*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D020275:Guillain-Barre Syndrome / Q000235:genetics*; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D059866:HLA-DQ beta-Chains; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D012121:Respiration, Artificial / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; D059866:HLA-DQ beta-Chains; C069051:HLA-DQB1 antigen; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains; C497841:HLA-DRB1*01 antigen