Peyronie's disease is associated with an HLA class II antigen, HLA-DQ5, implying an autoimmune etiology.

PURPOSE: Previous studies using serological (protein based) HLA typing methods suggested an association between various HLA antigens and Peyronie's disease. We used a molecular (deoxyribonucleic acid based) HLA typing method to determine whether Peyronie's disease is associated with class II HLA antigens. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Class II HLA typing using the polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer method was performed in 31 patients with Peyronie's disease, 19 age matched urological patients with disorders other than Peyronie's disease and 75 major organ donor cadavers representative of the general population. RESULTS: The frequency of HLA-DQ5 was significantly increased in patients with Peyronie's disease (61% HLA-DQ5 positive) compared to age matched disease-free controls (11% HLA-DQ5 positive, corrected p = 0.003) and general population controls (25% HLA-DQ5 positive, corrected p = 0.005). The relative risk for Peyronie's disease associated with HLA-DQ5 was 12.7 and 4.6 compared to age matched and general population controls, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a positive association for the HLA class II antigen HLA-DQ5 with Peyronie's disease, suggesting that HLA-DQ5 is a risk factor for Peyronie's disease and implying an autoimmune etiology for this disorder.