Ai. Butt et al., HLA-DR TYPES IN RHEUMATIC, CONGENITAL AND DEGENERATIVE CARDIAC-VALVE DISEASES IN SAUDI PATIENTS, Annals of saudi medicine, 17(3), 1997, pp. 283-287
Subjects of Saudi origin were DNA typed for HLA-DR2, DR4 and DRw53 by
amplification fragment-length polymorphism and amplification by sequen
ce-specific primer techniques based on polymerase chain reaction. Of t
hese subjects, 125 had sporadic heart valve disease (96 with rheumatic
heart disease, 18 with degenerate and 11 with congenital degenerate v
alve disease) and 77 were healthy Saudi blood donors. While the freque
ncy of individuals typed DR4 was about the same in the rheumatic heart
disease as in the control category (30% Versus 23%, respectively), it
was found to be higher (55%; P<0.02), but below the level of marginal
significance after correcting for the number of DR types, in the cong
enital degenerate valve category. No preferential association of any D
R4 subtype could be detected. The incidence of DR2 was lower in the co
ngenital cases compared to that in the controls (9% versus 21%) and re
mained about the same in the rheumatic heart disease patients as in th
e controls. The frequency of DRw53 in the degenerate valve categories
was slightly lower than that in the controls, but the difference was n
ot significant. The study failed to corroborate the association betwee
n HLA-DR4 and rheumatic heart disease shown in previous studies using
the serotyping approach.