[Four-digit allele genotyping of HLA-A and HLA-B genes in Japanese patients with Behçet's disease (BD) by a PCR-SSOP-luminex method and stratification analysis according to each major symptom of BD].

PURPOSE

High resolution (four-digit) allele genotyping was used to determine the association of the HLA-A and -B alleles with Behçet's disease (BD) in Japanese patients. We also analyzed our results for the association of these alleles with the individual clinical features of BD.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

We enrolled 389 Japanese BD patients and 254 healthy controls in this study. Genotyping of the HLA-A, -B alleles was performed by the PCR-SSOP-Luminex method and the phenotype frequencies of the HLA-A, and -B alleles were estimated.

RESULTS

Some HLA-A and -B alleles were significantly associated with BD. When we recalculated the phenotype frequencies for the HLA-B51-negative subjects to exclude the effects of the linkage disequilibrium with the HLA-B51 allele, HLA-A2601 was most strongly associated with BD. In addition, we observed a significant association between several clinical features and some alleles, including HLA-A2602.

CONCLUSION

The significant increase of HLA-A* 26 in the BD patients without HLA-B51 suggests that this allele itself might be one of the primary susceptibility genes involved in the development of BD independently of HLA-B51.