G. Vargasalarcon et al., HLA-DR7 IN ASSOCIATION WITH CHLORPROMAZINE-INDUCED LUPUS ANTICOAGULANT (LA), Journal of autoimmunity, 10(6), 1997, pp. 579-583
The presence of anti-phospholipid antibodies (aPL) has been associated
with the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes. These autoanti
bodies occur in individuals with infections such as that produced by t
he human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) or with syphilis, but they c
an also occur in drug-induced lupus-like syndromes. In the present stu
dy, we analysed the presence of aPL (detected as lupus anti-coagulant)
and its relationship with the MHC markers in 93 Caucasian psychiatric
patients chronically treated with chlorpromazine. Forty-one out of 93
patients were positive for LA, and the HLA-DR7 antigen was significan
tly increased in LA-positive patients as compared to normal controls o
r LA-negative patients (PC=0.024, RR=2.12 and P=0.05, RR=1.57, respect
ively). Likewise, we noted a significantly increased frequency of HLA-
B44 in LA-positive patients as compared to normal controls (PC=0.024,
RR=2.12), but not when compared to aPL-negative patients. No significa
nt differences were found among any other class I, II or III MHC antig
ens. Haplotype analysis showed that DR7 was mostly part of the HLA-B44
-DR7-FC31 and B7-DR7-SC31 haplotypes. These results suggest that the H
LA-DR7 antigen might be playing a role in the production of aPL in chl
orpromazine-treated patients. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.