MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX ALLELIC ASSOCIATIONS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS IN TAIWAN

Objective. To investigate the association of HLA class II alleles/hapl otypes, type I C2 deficiency gene, and tumor necrosis factor alpha gen e promoter allele (TNF2) with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in th e Chinese population in Taiwan. Methods. The HLA-DRE1 and DQB1 alleles were studied in 105 SLE patients and 115 controls by the polymerase c hain reaction (PCR)sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe method, the subtyping of DRB115/16 and DRB5 by PCR with sequence-specific primer s, type I C2 deficiency gene by PCR, and TNF2 by PCR-Nco I restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results. The frequencies of the HLA cla ss II alleles DRB102, DRB1*1502, DRB5*0102, DQB1*0501, and DQB1*0602 and DR2-associated haplotypes DRB11501, DRB5*0101, DQB1*0602 and DRB1 1502, DRB5*0102, DQB1*0501 were higher among SLE patients than among controls; however, only DQB10501 was statistically significantly asso ciated with SLE, No specific allele/haplotype was significantly associ ated with lupus nephritis. No subject had type I C2 deficiency, SLE pa tients had a marginally higher percentage of TNF2, which was in linkag e disequilibrium with DR3, Since DR3 was not associated with SLE in th is Taiwanese Chinese population, TNF2 might play a role in the immunop athogenesis of SLE. Conclusion. Although no HLA-DRB1 allele was found to be significantly associated with SLE, the associations with DQB105 01 and TNP2 suggest that DQB1 and tumor necrosis factor alpha mag be i mportant genetic factors in SLE susceptibility in the Chinese populati on in Taiwan.