Association of HLA-DRB1*16 with chronic discoid lupus erythematosus in Mexican mestizo patients.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Chronic discoid lupus erythematosus (CDLE) is present in 15-30% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Approximately 5% of CDLE cases can evolve to SLE at some stage of the disease. AIM: The aim of this study was to determine gene frequencies of HLA-DRB1 alleles in Mexican mestizo patients with CDLE, irrespective of the presence of systemic disease. METHODS: The study comprised 28 Mexican mestizo patients with CDLE who were attending the Passover Dermatology Centre, in Mexico City. HLA-DRB1 and DQ allele typing was performed by sequence-specific oligotyping after DNA amplification using PCR. The study also included 99 ethnically matched healthy individuals as controls. RESULTS: In the patient group, a significantly increased gene frequency was found for the HLA-DR4 (P = 0.016, OR = 2.24, 95% CI 1.14-4.38) and HLA-DR16 alleles (P = 0.005, OR = 5.51, 95% CI 1.49-21.08). CONCLUSION: HLA-DRB1 alleles seem to be involved in the genetic susceptibility to CDLE in the Mexican mestizo population.