RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Association of HLA Class II Genes with Systemic Sclerosis in Spanish Patients JF The Journal of Rheumatology JO J Rheumatol FD The Journal of Rheumatology SP 2733 OP 2736 DO 10.3899/jrheum.090377 VO 36 IS 12 A1 CARMEN P. SIMEƓN A1 VICENT FONOLLOSA A1 CARLES TOLOSA A1 EDUARD PALOU A1 ALBERT SELVA A1 ROSER SOLANS A1 LLUIS ARMADANS A1 ESTEFANIA MORENO A1 SARA MARSAL A1 MIQUEL VILARDELL YR 2009 UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/36/12/2733.abstract 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).