Association of HLA-DRB5*01 with protection against cutaneous manifestations of rheumatoid vasculitis in Brazilian patients.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the frequency of HLA classes I and II and their association with the cutaneous manifestation of rheumatoid vasculitis (RV) in Brazilian patients.


METHODS
During one year we selected 130 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) classified according to the American College of Rheumatology, 1987. All patients underwent a clinical and laboratory questionnaire to exclude other causes of cutaneous vasculopathy (neoplasia, infections, illicit drug use, diabetes mellitus, and tobaccoism). Seventy-three patients with any risk factor for other causes of vasculopathy were excluded. Fifty-seven without risk factors for other causes of vasculopathy were included in the study, 17 with RV according to Scott and Bacon's criteria, 1984. Demographic data, time of RA diagnosis, disease activity (DAS28), presence of rheumatoid factor, and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies were analyzed. The HLA alleles were typed using the DNA-amplified polymerase chain reaction with low-resolution hybridization and sequence-specific primers.


RESULTS
The comparison between the 40 patients without RV and the 17 patients with RV showed an increased frequency of HLA-B*14 (Pc = 0.168) and HLA-Cw*08 (Pc = 0.084) in patients with RV and an increased frequency of HLA-DRB5*01 (Pc = 0.048) in patients without RV.


CONCLUSIONS
The HLA-DRB5*01 may confer protection against that extra-articular manifestation of RA.
Universidade Estadual de Campinas- FCM, Unicamp. wnishimura@bol.com.br
Wester Eidi
WE
Nishimura
Lilian Tereza Lavras
LT
Costallat
Sandra Regina Muchinechi
SR
Fernandes
Roseneide Aparecida
RA
Conde
Manoel Barros
MB
Bertolo
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D059847:HLA-DRB5 Chains / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056653:Rheumatoid Vasculitis / Q000276:immunology*; D017445:Skin Diseases, Vascular / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult
D059847:HLA-DRB5 Chains