Strong association between HLA-A*0206 and Stevens-Johnson syndrome in the Japanese.

PURPOSE: To investigate the association between HLA class I antigens and Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS)/toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) with ocular complications in Japanese.

DESIGN

Case-control study.

METHODS

We examined the histocompatibility antigen genes HLA-A, -B, and -C of 40 Japanese SJS/TEN patients with ocular complications and 113 healthy Japanese volunteers by polymerase chain reaction amplification and subsequent hybridization with sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes (PCR-SSO).

RESULTS

We clarified that HLA-A*0206 is strongly associated with SJS/TEN with ocular complications in the Japanese.

CONCLUSIONS

Because this finding is completely different from data reported elsewhere on Taiwanese Han Chinese patients and Caucasian patients, it suggests strong ethnic differences in the HLA-SJS association and points to the need for studies in other ethnic populations in order to obtain a global picture.