The HLA-B*4601-DRB1*0901 haplotype is positively correlated with juvenile ocular myasthenia gravis in a southern Chinese Han population

Neurol Sci. 2015 Jul;36(7):1135-40. doi: 10.1007/s10072-015-2235-9. Epub 2015 May 8.

Abstract

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a sporadic disorder that has been increasingly linked to inherited genetic factors. Previous studies have demonstrated that human leukocyte antigen (HLA) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of MG. We determined the genotypes of the HLA-A, B, and DRB1 alleles in 257 southern Chinese Han MG patients using polymerase chain reaction sequence-based typing (PCR-SBT). The allele frequencies in the MG patients were compared to 292 healthy controls using the case-control method. HLA-A*0207, HLA-B*4601, HLA-DRB1*0403, HLA-DRB1*0901, and HLA-DRB1*1602 were more frequent in juvenile ocular MG patients than controls. HLA-DRB1*0701 was significantly reduced in the juvenile ocular MG group compared with controls. HLA-A*0207-B*4601, HLA-B*4601-DRB1*0403, HLA-B*4601-DRB1*0901, and HLA-B*4601-DRB1*1602 were found to be in strong linkage disequilibrium in juvenile ocular MG patients. Within the MG patients, there was a strong positive association between HLA-B*4601-DRB1*0901 and juvenile ocular MG patients, and the value of odds ratios (OR) decreased as the disease became more severe and the age of onset increased. We believe this could be the main heredity phenotype in juvenile ocular MG patients from southern China and may be a clinical marker to predict the severity of the disease.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Age of Onset
  • Asian People / ethnology
  • Asian People / genetics
  • Female
  • Gene Frequency
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease / genetics*
  • Genotype
  • HLA-B Antigens / genetics*
  • HLA-DRB1 Chains / genetics*
  • Haplotypes
  • Humans
  • Linkage Disequilibrium
  • Male
  • Myasthenia Gravis / epidemiology
  • Myasthenia Gravis / ethnology
  • Myasthenia Gravis / genetics*
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • HLA-B Antigens
  • HLA-B*46:01 antigen
  • HLA-DRB1 Chains