Association of the HLA-G rs66554220 variant with non-segmental vitiligo and its clinical features in Northwestern Mexico population.

INTRODUCTION

The HLA-G molecule functions as a critical immunomodulatory checkpoint, its expression is significantly associated with pathological processes that may be responsible in part for autoimmune conditions such as non-segmental vitiligo (NS-V), characterized by chronic skin depigmentation. In this sense, the rs66554220 (14 bp ID) variant located in the 3'UTR, implicated in the regulation of HLA-G production, is associated with autoimmune diseases.

AIM: To evaluate the role of the HLA-G rs66554220 variant in NS-V and its clinical features in Northwestern Mexicans.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

We genotyped the rs66554220 variant by SSP-PCR in 197 NS-V patients and 198 age-sex matched non-related healthy individuals (HI).

RESULTS

Del allele and genotype Del/Ins were the most prevalent in both study groups (NS-V/HI = 56%/55% and 46.70%/46.46%, respectively). Despite lacking association between the variant and NS-V, we found an association of the Ins allele in different inheritance models with familial clustering, onset of the illness, universal clinical subtype and Koebner's phenomenon.

CONCLUSIONS

The rs66554220 (14 bp ID) variant is not a risk factor for NS-V in the Mexican population studied. To our knowledge, this is the first report about the topic in the Mexican population and worldwide that includes clinical features related with this HLA-G genetic variant.