HLA-B51 Carriers are Susceptible to Ocular Symptoms of Behçet Disease and the Association between the Two Becomes Stronger towards the East along the Silk Road: A Literature Survey

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Behçet disease (BD) is predominantly found between East Asia and the Mediterranean basin along the historic Silk Road. HLA-B51 is known to be strongly associated with BD. We investigated the association between HLA-B51 and the ocular manifestations of BD among various ethnic groups.

Methods: A literature survey was conducted, and 18 articles written in English were reviewed.

Results: A strong correlation was found between HLA-B51 and ocular lesions in the entire cohort discussed in the reviewed articles (OR = 1.76, p = 0.000057). HLA-B51 was shown to have a strong association with ocular manifestations of BD patients in East-Eurasian (OR = 2.40, p = 0.0030) and Middle-Eurasian (OR = 1.87, p = 0.0045), but not in West-Eurasian (OR = 1.28, p = 0.35) areas. This correlation seemed to become stronger towards the east.

Conclusions: A meta-analysis showed that the correlation became stronger towards the east along the Silk Road. The study results may facilitate understanding of the etiology and characteristics of BD.

Keywords:

• BD
• meta-analysis
• ocular manifestation
• Silk Road disease

FUNDING

This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (KAKENHI); a Grant-in-Aid for Research on Specific Diseases from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan; and a Grant-in-Aid for the 2014–2015 Research Project of the Research Institute of Personalized Health Sciences, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (KAKENHI); a Grant-in-Aid for Research on Specific Diseases from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan; and a Grant-in-Aid for the 2014–2015 Research Project of the Research Institute of Personalized Health Sciences, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido.