Association between myasthenia gravis and HLA antigens in patients

Introduction: Myasthenia gravis is a disease of neuromuscular junction. Familial cases have been reported. Relation between myasthenia gravis and HLA antigens has been seen in many studies from different parts of the world. The aim of this study is determination of association between HLA class I haplotypes and myasthenia gravis in Kerman province. Methods: In this cross sectional study 44 myasthenic patients and 100 healthy control subjects were studied. Microlymphocytotoxicity method was used for HLA typing. Statistical analysis was done using X2 and Fisher exact tests. Results: Prevalence of HLA-A9, A26, A11 in myasthenic patients were significantly lower than healthy control group. Where as, frequency of HLA-B8 in patients group was significantly higher than healthy control group. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in other HLA class I haplotypes. Conclusion: Myasthenia gravis is associated with some types of HLA haplotypes. This association can be variable in different parts of the world and in various races. In Kerman the results of this study indicate that the disease is positively associated with HLA B8 and negatively associated with HLA-A9, A11 and A26.