[Relation between the clinical course of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada's disease and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR4 subtypes].

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada's disease (VKH) is an autoimmune disorder affecting melanocyte-containing tissues. VKH is strongly related to human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR4, a heterogeneous HLA specificity consisting of at least 12 different genotypes. The disease has two types: prolonged and non-prolonged, depending upon the clinical course. Fifty-four Japanese patients comprising 27 with the prolonged type, 15 with the non-prolonged type, and 12 new cases of VKH were included in this study. Ninety-three percent of the patients with all types had HLA-DR4. All 27 patients with the prolonged type had either the DRB1*0405 or 0410 genotype, and the non-prolonged type included two DR4-negative and four DRB10405 and *0410 negative patients. Our results indicate that the clinical course of VKH is determined partly by the patient's HLA genotype.