PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - CARMEN P. SIMEÓN
AU  - VICENT FONOLLOSA
AU  - CARLES TOLOSA
AU  - EDUARD PALOU
AU  - ALBERT SELVA
AU  - ROSER SOLANS
AU  - LLUIS ARMADANS
AU  - ESTEFANIA MORENO
AU  - SARA MARSAL
AU  - MIQUEL VILARDELL
TI  - Association of HLA Class II Genes with Systemic Sclerosis in Spanish Patients
AID  - 10.3899/jrheum.090377
DP  - 2009 Dec 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - 2733--2736
VI  - 36
IP  - 12
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/36/12/2733.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/36/12/2733.full
SO  - J Rheumatol2009 Dec 01; 36
AB  - Objective. To examine the role of HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 alleles in the susceptibility to systemic sclerosis (SSc) and its clinical expression in a Spanish population.Methods. One hundred Spanish Caucasian patients with SSc and 130 controls were studied. Molecular HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 typing was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) sequence-based typing and PCR sequence-specific oligonucleotide.Results. HLA-DRB1*11 was associated with genetic susceptibility to SSc, whereas HLA-DRB1*07 (HLA-DRB1*0701) showed a protective effect. A significant increase in the frequency of the DRB1*1104 allele was observed in patients with anti-topoisomerase I autoantibodies (anti-Topo I) while HLA-DRB1*01 and HLA-DQB1*05 alleles were significantly increased in patients with anti-centromere antibodies (ACA). The HLA-DRB1*11 allele was more frequent in patients with pulmonary fibrosis; however, no significant association with any HLA-DRB1 or DQB1 alleles was identified in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.Conclusion. HLA alleles play a role in genetic susceptibility to SSc in Spanish patients. Some alleles are more prevalent in patients with pulmonary fibrosis and in patients with certain SSc-specific autoantibodies (anti-Topo I and ACA).