Journal Article

HLA class II alleles associations of anticardiolipin and anti b2GPI antibodies in a large series of European patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Sebastiani, Gian Domenico, Carcassi, Carlo, Smolen, Josef, Piette, Jean-Charles, Passiu, Giuseppe, Tincani, Angela, Nebro, Antonio Fernandez, Papasteriades, Chryssa, Jedryka-Goral, Anna, Scorza, Raffaella, Ferrara, Giovanni Battista, Morozzi, Gabriella, Bellisai, Francesca, Font, Josep, De Ramon Garrido, Enrique, Allegri, Flavio, Galeazzi, Mauro, Houssiau, Frederic, Marcolongo, Roberto

2000

Overview

The objective of this study was to determine the HLA class II associations of the anticardiolipin (aCL) and anti-b2GPI (ab2GPI) antibodies in a large series of European patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A cohort of 577 European SLE patients was enrolled. aCL and ab2GPI were measured by ELISA methods. Molecular typing of HLA-DRB1, DRB3, DRB4, DRB5, DQA1 and DQB1 loci was performed by the polymerase chain reaction–sequence specific oligonucleotide probes (PCR–SSOP) method. aCL of IgG, IgM and IgA isotypes were detected in 22.8%, 14% and 13.9% of patients, respectively. IgG and IgM ab2GPI were detected in 20% of patients. aCL showed positive association with HLA DRB1*04, DRB1*0402, DRB1*0403, DRB1*07, DRB3*0301, DQA1*0201, DQA1*0301, DQB1*0302, and negative association with DQA1*0501, DRB3*0202. ab2GPI showed positive association with DRB1*0402, DRB1*0403, DQB1*0302. DRB1*0402 carried the highest relative risk for the presence of both aCL (RR = 8.1) and ab2GPI (RR = 4.6). Our results confirm the already described associations of aCL with HLA DR4 and DR7, but also demonstrate that, among the alleles at the DRB1*04 locus, the *0402 was most represented both in aCL and in ab2GPI positive patients. In addition, HLA class II associations of ab2GPI are for the first time extensively examined in a large cohort of European SLE patients.

• Publisher: SAGE Publications