HLA and atopic dermatitis with high serum IgE levels.

Patients with atopic dermatitis usually exhibit allergen-specific IgE antibodies against several environmental antigens. HLA restriction is presumed to be involved in the recognition of such antigens, but several previous reports have so far failed to find a significant association between atopic dermatitis and HLA antigens. In this study we examined 38 unrelated Japanese patients with severe atopic dermatitis and high serum IgE levels (greater than 800 U/ml). We investigated the serological HLA types and HLA class II alleles in this group of patients with atopic dermatitis. Frequencies of HLA-A24, A33, Cwblank, B44, DR13 and HLA-DRB11302, DQB10604, DPB10301 alleles were increased in the patients. In contrast, frequencies of HLA-Cw1, Bw6, DR4, DR53, and HLA-DQB10302 allele were decreased. However, none of these remained significant after p values were corrected. Further study on HLA association with atopic dermatitis through characterization of specific antigens or antigen epitopes is needed.