Influence of human leukocyte antigen in the pathogenesis of Ménière's disease in the South Korean population.

In order to study the associations of Ménière's disease (MD) with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles in the South Korean population, we examined the distribution of HLA class I and II alleles in 39 MD patients and 199 healthy controls. The frequencies of HLA-Cw*0303 (relative risk (RR) = 2.5; p < 0.02) and -Cw*0602 (RR = 3.7; p < 0.03) were significantly increased in patients with MD compared to controls. However, HLA-B44 (RR = 0.2, p < 0.004) and -Cw*0102 (RR = 0.3; p < 0.03) were significantly decreased in patients compared to controls. When the association between hearing level and the presence of HLA alleles was evaluated, the frequencies of HLA-B13 (RR = 7.4; p < 0.004), -B39 (RR = 45.7; p < 0.003), -Cw*0303 (RR = 4.5; p < 0.02) and -Cw*0602 (RR = 6.5; p < 0.02) were significantly increased and those of -B44 (RR = 0.1; p < 0.02) and -Cw*0102 (RR = 0.1; p < 0.03) were significantly decreased in MD patients with hearing losses (stages II-IV) compared to controls. The frequency of HLA-B13 was significantly higher in MD patients with hearing loss (stages II-IV) than in those with normal hearing (stage I). In terms of HLA-DRB1, -DQA1 and -DQB1 allele frequencies, a significantly higher frequency of DRB1*15 was seen in the patients (RR = 2.4; p < 0.03). These results suggest that some HLA alleles may be a useful genetic marker for predicting prognosis in South Korean patients with MD.