ASSOCIATION OF LEPROSY WITH HLA-DR2 IN A SOUTHERN BRAZILIAN POPULATION

The association between HLA specificities and leprosy was investigated in a Southern Brazilian population. One hundred and twenty-one patien ts and 147 controls were typed for HLA-A, B, Cw, DR and DQ. Patients w ere subdivided into the following subgroups, according to clinical, hi stological and immunological criteria: lepromatous (N = 55), tuberculo id (N = 32), dimorphous (N = 20), and indeterminate (N = 14). The freq uencies of HLA specificities were compared between the total group of patients and controls, and between the same controls and each subgroup of patients. After correction of the probabilities, deviations were n ot significant, except for the DR2 specificity, which presented a freq uency of 44.2% in the total group of patients and 56.3% in the subgrou p of individuals with the tuberculoid form of the disease, compared to 23.3% in the controls. Stratified analysis showed that the increased DR2 frequency in the total group of patients was due to the subgroups with the tuberculoid and dimorphous forms. The relative risk of tuberc uloid leprosy for DR2-positive individuals was 4.2, and the etiologic fraction of DR2 was 0.429. In conclusion, a positive association of th e DR2 specificity with the tuberculoid form of leprosy, but not with t he lepromatous, dimorphous, or indeterminate forms, was demonstrated i n this Southern Brazilian population.