HLA class I and class II genotyping in patients with chronic urticaria.
OBJECTIVE
Chronic urticaria (CU) is a common disease in which pathogenesis is unclear and which is resistant to therapy. Recent investigations have indicated that autoimmunity plays a role in nearly one third of CU patients. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and class II antigens and immune pathogenesis of CU.


METHODS
HLA class I and class II antigens were investigated in 40 patients diagnosed with CU, utilizing serologic techniques and polymerase chain reactions. The study was performed between October 2005 and May 2006. Further HLA typing in patient subsets was done depending on the response of patients to intradermal injection of autologous serum. About 30 healthy and genetically unrelated individuals formed the control group for evaluation.


RESULTS
The results revealed that HLA-B44 frequency was significantly higher (25%) in the patient group as compared with the matched control group (3.33%) (p = 0.033, OR = 9.667). There was no significant difference in HLA-A allelic distribution between the patient and control groups. In the genotyping of class II HLA alleles, HLA-DRB1*01 (25%) (p = 0.033, OR = 9.667) and HLA-DRB*15 (25%) (p = 0.033, OR = 9.667) were predominant alleles in the patient group.


CONCLUSIONS
The association of HLA-B44, HLA-DRB1*01 and HLA-DRB*15 alleles with idiopathic CU suggests that there is a genetic component in the pathogenesis of CU.
Dermatology Section, Rize State Hospital, Rize, Turkey.
Müge
M
Coban
Teoman
T
Erdem
Sevki
S
Ozdemir
Ibrahim
I
Pirim
Mustafa
M
Atasoy
Mevlit
M
Ikbal
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000235:genetics*; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014581:Urticaria / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*
D006680:HLA Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II