Association of HLA-DR2-Related Haplotype (HLA-DRB5*01-DRB1*1501-DQB1*0602) in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis in Khuzestan Province.

OBJECTIVE

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a partially heritable autoimmune disease. is the largest identified genetic risk factor for MS. The largest identified genetic risk factor is haplotype from the MHC class II HLA-DR2, which increases the disease risk. The distribution in MS patients has been confirmed, but contradictory outcomes have been found. Moreover, the effect on ethnicity and gender is unclear. There are no data regarding the association with MS in Khuzestan Province, Iran. This study aimed to investigate the association of with MS regarding both sex and ethnicity in this province.

MATERIALS & METHODS: A total of 399 individuals were recruited. HLA typing was conducted using the polymerase chain reaction amplification with sequence-specific primers technology. The association with MS was analyzed, and also its probable association with gender, ethnicity, the expanded disability status scale (EDSS), and MS clinical course was examined using the Chi-square test.

RESULTS

as the most common haplotype was found in both patient and control groups. In contrast, the frequency was very low in the groups. It was observed that haplotypes had no association with MS susceptibility. Most of the haplotypes showed no association with ethnicity, sex, EDSS, and MS course except for the haplotype that was positively associated with EDSS steps 5 to 10 (p=0.014) and non-RRMS (p=0.023).

CONCLUSION

There was no association between and MS susceptibility. However, the higher frequency may play a role in MS development. Also, HLA-DR2 did not increase significantly concerning clinical course, ethnicity, sex, and EDSS. This study further supports the importance of replication studies as susceptible loci that might differ in various ethnicities. Therefore, it is concluded that the association between and MS is more allelic than haplotypic in Khuzestan.