Association of class I and II HLA alleles and haplotypes with susceptibility to vitiligo: a study of patients with vitiligo from southeast Brazil.

BACKGROUND

The association of vitiligo with the HLA complex has been previously described in various populations worldwide. However, until now, no similar study has been conducted in Brazil. The aim of this study was to determine the association of HLA alleles with vitiligo in the population of southeast Brazil.

METHODS

DNA samples from 116 patients with vitiligo and 243 healthy controls were obtained using the salting-out technique. HLA class I (A*, B*, C*) and class II (DRB1* and DQB1*) alleles were amplified by polymerase chain reaction with specific oligonucleotide sequences.

RESULTS

The case-control study identified susceptibility associations with alleles HLA-A*02 (P = 0.0001, Pc = 0.0020, odds ratio [OR] = 2.68, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.69-4.26) and HLA-DRB1*07 (P = 0.0001, Pc = 0.0013, OR = 2.69, 95% CI = 1.66-4.34). The alleles HLA-A*32 (P = 0.0156, Pc = 0.3120, OR = 22.43, 95% CI = 1.12-449.46) and HLA-DQB1*06 (P = 0.0207, Pc = 0.1035, OR = 0.28, 95% CI = 0.10-0.81) were associated with both localized and generalized vitiligo. The haplotype analysis revealed that A*02-B*51-C*15-DRB1*07-DQB1*02 (P = 0.0113), A*02-B*15-C*07-DRB1*13-DQB1*06 (P = 0.0340), and A*29-B*44-C*16-DRB1*07-DQB1*02 (P = 0.0340) were associated with a predisposition to the disease.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results show that HLA alleles and haplotypes may contribute to the pathogenesis of vitiligo in the Brazilian population.