HLA-DRB1 ALLELES AND BETA-2 GLYCOPROTEIN I-DEPENDENT ANTICARDIOLIPIN ANTIBODIES IN JAPANESE PATIENTS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS

Objective To investigate the association of HLA DRB1 alleles with beta (2) glycoprotein I (beta(2) GPI)-dependent anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) in Japanese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Me thods One hundred and forty-five Japanese patients with SLE were studi ed. beta(2) GPI-dependent aCL was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorb ent assays. DNA typing of the DRB1 alleles was performed by the polyme rase chain reaction sequence specific oligonucleotide probe method. Re sults beta(2) GPI-dependent aCL was positive in 29 (20.0%) out of 145 SLE patients. SLE patients with beta(2) GPI-dependent aCL had a signif icantly higher frequency of one or more of the clinical manifestations assumed to be associated with aCL, compared to those without beta(2) GPI-dependent aCL (p < 0.05). The frequency of DRB10901 was lower in SLE patients than in healthy subjects. SLE patients with beta(2) GPI-d ependent aCL were significantly associated with DRB10901 as compared to those without beta 2 GPI-dependent aCL (41.4% vs 15.5%, p < 0.005, R.R. = 3.8), although the corrected beta(2) value was not significant. Conclusion A possible association of DRB10901 with Japanese SLE patie nts with beta(2) GPI-dependent aCL was found. This association indicat es an association between the disease and the HLA-DR53 (DRB4)-bearing haplotypes in different ethnic groups.