OBJECTIVE The HLA-DRB1 "shared epitope" (SE) genotypes are associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but it remains controversial whether the association is with incidence, severity, or both, whether there are associations in seronegative patients, and whether different DRB1 alleles that contain the SE have similar effects on RA susceptibility and/or severity. The present study was undertaken ...

OBJECTIVE Several reports of familial aggregation of giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) have been described although detailed genetic and immunological studies are scarce. Our aims were to investigate the influence of HLA-DRB1 alleles and to analyze the phenotype and T cell receptor (TCR) usage of circulating T lymphocytes in a familial case of GCA and PMR. METHODS HL...

OBJECTIVES Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the commonest rheumatic disease of childhood. Uveitis is the commonest eye complication of JIA, potentially leading to eye surgery and/or visual loss. JIA is a complex genetic trait with well-established HLA-DRB1 associations. The aim of this study was to investigate the involvement of HLA-DRB1 in JIA-associated uveitis. METHODS A set of 130 U...

The HLA class II (DRB1 and DQB1) associations with sarcoidosis have been studied by several groups but often without consistent results. In this paper, we consider the hypothesis that observed inconsistencies relate to distinct, genetically encoded disease phenotypes which differ in prevalence between centres. We therefore typed HLA-DRB1 and DQB1 in 340 UK, 139 Dutch and 163 Japanese sarcoidosi...

The purpose of the present study was to investigate polymorphism of HLA class II haplotypic associations (HLA-DRB1, -DQA1, -DQB1) and DQCAR alleles in 78 Croatian patients with psoriasis. Patients were divided into two groups according to a family history of disease and age of onset: type I (positive family history and early onset) and type II (negative family history and late onset). The diffe...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main causative agent for cervical cancer. Variability in host immunogenetic factors is important in determining the overall cellular immune response to the HPV infection. This study was carried out to confirm the association between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II alleles and cervical cancer in HPV infected women. METHODS Both l...

OBJECTIVE To use a panel of monoclonal antibodies (Mab) which recognise HLA class II alleles associated with rheumatoid arthritis for fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) from patients with early and established rheumatoid arthritis and to compare these results against DNA oligotyping of HLA class II molecules in the same patients. M...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of HLA DR-DQ haplotypes in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in the Southeast Region of Turkey. METHODS Eighty children and adolescents with T1DM and eighty control subjects participated in the study. HLA-DR, DQ was typed using polymerase chain reaction and sequence-specific priming technique. RESULTS HLA DRB1*03 all...

Of identified genetic variants, HLA polymorphisms confer the greatest risk for developing autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (HLA-DRB1*04). There are strong influences of HLA polymorphisms on cell type-specific gene expression in B cells and monocytes. Their influence on gene expression in CD4(+) T cells is not known. We determined transcript and proteins levels of target genes...

BACKGROUND Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a multifactorial autoimmune disorder where interaction and integration of immune response genes along with environmental factors play a role in autoimmune destruction of the insulin producing Pancreatic Beta cells. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We have studied four single nucleotide polymorphisms (FokI site in Exon 2, BsmI and ApaI sites in Intron 8 and Ta...