ASSOCIATION OF PRIMARY BILIARY-CIRRHOSIS WITH THE ALLELE HLA-DPBI-ASTERISK-0301 IN A GERMAN POPULATION

The major histocompatibility complex class II alleles at the HLA-DPB1 locus were investigated in 32 German Caucasoid patients with primary b iliary cirrhosis (PBC) and compared with those from 47 normal control patients using molecular genotyping techniques. The second exon of the HLA-DPB1 gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and hy bridized with 25 sequence-specific oligonucleotides (SSOs) to assign t he HLA-DPB1 alleles on the basis of known sequence variations, accordi ng to the protocols of the Eleventh International Histocompatibility W orkshop. A strong association of PBC was found with the allele HLA-DPB 10301, The allele HLA-DPB1*0301 was present in 50% (16 of 32) of the patients with PBC compared with 13% (6 of 47) of normal controls (P co rrected < .015), whereas the other HLA-DPB1 alleles showed no signific ant differences in both groups. The relative risk (RR) estimate for th e allele HLA-DPB10301 was 6.8 (95% confidence limits: 2.27 to 20.57). In summary, this study clearly demonstrates an association of PBC wit h the HLA-DPB10301 allele in German Caucasoids and may add new data t o the immunogenetic background of PBC, suggesting a contribution of th e HLA-DPB1 gene to the genetic susceptibility of the disease.