HLA-DRB1*1101 allele may be associated with bilateral Méniére's disease in southern European population.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the associations of HLA-DRB1* and DQB1* Class II alleles in patients with bilateral Méniére's disease (MD).

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

Eighty patients from two ethnically defined groups with definite bilateral MD, according to the diagnostic scale of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, were compared with normal controls from the same origin in a prospective multicenter study. We performed an allele-specific amplification for HLA-DRB1* and DQB1* genes of the major histocompatibility complex.

RESULTS

The allele HLA-DRB1*1101 was associated with bilateral MD in the Mediterranean population (odds ratio, 3.65 [95% confidence intervals, 1.5-9.1], corrected p = 0.029); however, this allele was not associated in the group from Galicia (northwest of Spain). No differences were found in the distribution of alleles for the gene HLA-DQB1* between patients and controls.

CONCLUSION

The allele HLA-DRB1*1101 and the allelic group HLA-DRB1*11 may determine an increased susceptibility to develop bilateral MD in a southern European population.