An HLA Class II Region Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) in Patients with Dermatitis Herpetiformis: Association with HLA-DP Phenotype

• Published in: Journal of investigative dermatology Vol. 95; no. 2; pp. 172 - 177
• Main Authors: Hall, Russell P, Ward, Frances E, Wenstrup, Richard J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Danvers, MA Elsevier Inc 01.08.1990; Nature Publishing
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Bullous diseases of the skin; Celiac disease; Cell Line; Data processing; Dermatitis herpetiformis; Dermatitis Herpetiformis - genetics; Dermatitis Herpetiformis - immunology; Dermatology; DNA; DNA - genetics; DNA - isolation & purification; Family studies; Female; Genes, MHC Class II; genomics; Haplotypes; Histocompatibility antigen HLA; HLA-DP Antigens - genetics; HLA-DQ Antigens - genetics; HLA-DR Antigens - genetics; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Pedigree; Phenotype; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; Restriction fragment length polymorphism; HLA-System; Dermatitis herpetiformis; Restriction fragment length polymorphism
• ISSN: 0022-202X; 1523-1747
• DOI: 10.1111/1523-1747.ep12477943

Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) is characterized in part by an associated gluten-sensitive enteropathy (GSE), and a strong association with the HLA antigens HLA-A1, -B8, -DR3, and -DQw2, essentially identical to that seen in patients with isolated GSE (celiac disease). A 4.0-kb RsaI RFLP has been identified using a DQ β-chain cDNA and localized to the HLA-DP β-chain region. This RFLP has been found more frequently in patients with isolated GSE than in normal HLA matched controls. We have analyzed genomic DNA from 24 patients with DH and 15 HLA-matched controls to determine if this 4.0-kb RsaI RFLP was present in patients with DH. Twenty-one of 24 (87%) of patients with DH were found to have this RFLP as compared to 7 of 10 (70%) HLA-DR3, -DQw2 matched control subjects (p = 0.23). Thus, the 4.0-kb RsaI RFLP detected in patients with isolated GSE is also present in patients with DH; however, its frequency in DH patients does not differ significantly from that of HLA matched controls. Family studies of patients with DH revealed that although the 4.0-kb RsaI RFLP segregated with the HLA-A1, -B8, -DR3, -DQw2 haplotype in one family, it did not segregate with this disease-associated haplotype in two other families. In both patient and control populations, this RFLP was associated with HLA-DPw1 or -DPw3 phenotypes; 25 of 26 (96%) HLA-DPw1 or -DPw3 subjects were found to have this RFLP compared to only 1 of 6 (17%) who did not express HLA-DPw1 or -DPw3 (pc = 0.0009). These population and family data suggest that this 4.0-kb RsaI RFLP is primarily associated with the HLA- DPw1, -DPw3 phenotype, rather than the clinical manifestations of DH. These data further document that the strongest association of DH with HLA antigens remains with HLA-DQw2 and FILA-DR3 antigens.