Evidence for association between the HLA-DQA locus and abdominal aortic aneurysms in the Belgian population: a case control study.
BACKGROUND
Chronic inflammation and autoimmunity likely contribute to the pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). The aim of this study was to investigate the role of autoimmunity in the etiology of AAAs using a genetic association study approach with HLA polymorphisms.


METHODS
HLA-DQA1, -DQB1, -DRB1 and -DRB3-5 alleles were determined in 387 AAA cases (180 Belgian and 207 Canadian) and 426 controls (269 Belgian and 157 Canadian) by a PCR and single-strand oligonucleotide probe hybridization assay.


RESULTS
We observed a potential association with the HLA-DQA1 locus among Belgian males (empirical p = 0.027, asymptotic p = 0.071). Specifically, there was a significant difference in the HLA-DQA1*0102 allele frequencies between AAA cases (67/322 alleles, 20.8%) and controls (44/356 alleles, 12.4%) in Belgian males (empirical p = 0.019, asymptotic p = 0.003). In haplotype analyses, marginally significant association was found between AAA and haplotype HLA-DQA1-DRB1 (p = 0.049 with global score statistics and p = 0.002 with haplotype-specific score statistics).


CONCLUSIONS
This study showed potential evidence that the HLA-DQA1 locus harbors a genetic risk factor for AAAs suggesting that autoimmunity plays a role in the pathogenesis of AAAs.
Ogata
Toru
T
Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA. ogatat@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
Gregoire
Lucie
L
Goddard
Katrina A B
KA
Skunca
Magdalena
M
Tromp
Gerard
G
Lancaster
Wayne D
WD
Parrado
Antonio R
AR
Lu
Qing
Q
Shibamura
Hidenori
H
Sakalihasan
Natzi
N
Limet
Raymond
R
MacKean
Gerald L
GL
Arthur
Claudette
C
Sueda
Taijiro
T
Kuivaniemi
Helena
H
D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000235:genetics*; D001530:Belgium; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D059848:HLA-DQ alpha-Chains; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; D059848:HLA-DQ alpha-Chains; C069050:HLA-DQA1 antigen; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens