Abstract
Background
Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune disease where autoimmune dysregulations along with genetic susceptibility are hypothesized to play a role in pathogenesis.
Objective
The aim of this study in to evaluate HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, HLA-DQB1, and HLA-DRB1 profile and its relationship with clinical features in AA patients.
Materials and methods
Ninety-eight patients with AA and 100 healthy controls were included in the study. HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, HLA-DQB1, and HLA-DRB1 frequencies were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP).
Results
HLA-B*39 and HLA-HLA-DRB1*15 allele frequencies were increased (p = .022 and p = .023, respectively), HLA-A*11 and HLA-B*35 frequencies were decreased (p = .006 and p = .014, respectively) in AA patients. HLA-B*13 and HLA-DRB1*11 were associated with poor prognostic factors. A class I allele, HLA-B*13 was associated with recurrence (p = .023) and presence of nevus flammeus (p = .022), while the class II allele HLA-DRB1*11 was associated with widespread hair loss (diffuse or universal alopecia) (p = .026), presence of ophiasis (p = .049) and juvenile onset (p = .018).
Conclusion
Belonging to two different classes of HLA family, HLA-B*13 and HLA-DRB1*11 alleles identified separate set of risk factors. In addition to increasing the risk of AA, HLA alleles may affect the prognosis of the disease.
Ethical approval
Reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital; approval# E-19-2565.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).