HLA-DR8 and acute anterior uveitis in ankylosing spondylitis.

OBJECTIVE

To identify possible factors in the development of acute anterior uveitis (AUU) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

METHODS

We investigated HLA antigens serologically, and HLA-DRB1*08 alleles by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism, in 42 Japanese AS patients with and without AAU.

RESULTS

Thirty-six of the AS patients (85.7%) had HLA-B27. Thirteen (65%) of the 20 patients with AAU had HLA-DR8, whereas only 1 (4.5%) of the 22 patients without AAU had DR8. The difference was statistically significant (Pcorr < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Our data suggest that HLA-B27 is strongly associated with AS in Japanese patients and that HLA-DR8 is important for the development of AAU in Japanese patients with AS.