Investigation The Role of Gender on The HLA-DRB1 and -DQB1 Association with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in Iranian Patients

OBJECTIVE Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) is an autoimmune and multifactorial disorder. Subsequent analysis on human leukocyte antigen ( HLA) region shows that HLA-DRB1 and -DQB1 genes have the strongest association with T1D. In this study, for the first time, we investigated the influence of gender on the HLA-DRB1 and -DQB1 association with type 1 diabetes mellitus in Iranian patients in order to determine gender dependent HLA heterogeneity in Iranian T1D patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this case control study, the HLA-DRB1 and -DQB1 typing were performed on 105 Iranian T1D patients and 100 healthy controls. The data were evaluated by using Fisher exact test. RESULTS Our results indicate that DRB1*04:01, DQB1*03:02 alleles and DRB1*04:01- DQB1*03:02 haplotype were significantly more frequent in male T1D patients than females. Also, DRB1*03:01, DRB1*15:01, DQB1*06:01 alleles, DQB1*03:01/05:01 genotype, DRB1*03:01-DQB1*02:01 and DRB1*15:01-DQB1*06:01 haplotypes were significantly higher in female T1D group than males. Furthermore, our results showed that DRB1*04:01 and DQB1*03:02 alleles were significantly more frequent in male T1D patients 1-5 years old at onset than females with similar condition. The DRB1*03:01 allele and DRB1*03:01- DQB1*02:01 haplotype were significantly higher in female T1D patients 6-10 years old at onset than males with similar condition. The DRB1*15:01 allele and DRB1*15:01-DQB1*06:01 haplotype were significantly more frequent in female T1D patients 16-20 years old at onset than males with similar condition. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that gender has a significant influence on the distribution of HLA-DR and -DQ alleles, genotypes and haplotypes. Also, distribution of the HLA-DRB1 and -DQB1 alleles, genotypes and haplotypes vary based on the gender of T1D patients in different age at onset.