STUDY OF ASSOCIATION BETWEEN HLA-DR₄ AND DR₅₃ AND AUTOANTIBODY DETECTION IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Abstract

The present study explored the association between human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR₄, DR₅₃, and auto antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its clinical significance. A total of 305 patients with RA and 50 healthy subjects who underwent medical examination were evaluated. HLA-DR₄ and HLA-DR₅₃ and auto antibodies were detected. The results showed that frequencies of HLA-DR₄ and HLA-DR₅₃ alleles in RA patients were 42.95% and 54.75%, respectively, which were significantly different from those in control group (p < 0.01). Frequencies of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (CCP), anti-RA33, anti-keratin antibody (AKA), and anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) in RA patients (n = 305) were 72.13%, 36.39%, 44.92%, and 60.98%, respectively. Results of rheumatoid factor (RF) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were 148.29 ± 391.01 IU/mL and 18.14 ± 26.87 mg/L, respectively, which were significantly different from those in control group (p < 0.01, t-test). The results indicated that the HLA- DR₄ gene was clearly associated with susceptibility of RA. Combined detection of related auto antibodies might improve diagnosis rate of RA significantly, and the positive rate was higher than that for a single antibody.

Keywords:

• anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody
• HLA-DR₄
• HLA-DR₅₃
• rheumatoid arthritis
• rheumatoid factor

Notes

^a p > 0.01 vs. HLA-DR₅₃.

^a p < 0.05 vs. AKA; p < 0.01 compared to other pairwise.

^a p < 0.01 vs. control group.

^a p < 0.01 vs. HLA-DR₄(–)/RA(+).

^b p < 0.01 vs. HLA-DR₅₃(–)/RA(+).

^c p < 0.05 vs. HLA-DR₅₃(–)/RA(+).

^d p < 0.01 vs. HLA-DR₄(–)/RA(+).

^e p < 0.01 vs. HLA-DR₅₃(–)/RA(+).

^f p < 0.05 vs. HLA-DR₅₃(–)/RA(+).