HLA-DQA1 Polymorphism in Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy

To determine whether the possession of certain HLA-DQA1 alleles was associated with the risk of developing idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) and to substantiate the role of an autoimmunologic pathogenesis in IDC. Type the alleles of HLA-DQA1 by polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) technique in 38 patients of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (7 women and 31 men), aged from 17 to 56 years old with diagnosis being according to World Health Organization criteria (IDC group), in 50 patients of end-stage heart failure of known etiology (18 women and 32 men), with ages ranging from 34 to 72(HF group), and in the control group consisting of presumably 100 healthy subjects (39 women and 61 men) from the health survey, aged from 30 to 59 years old. The frequency of HLA-DQA1*0501 in the DCM patients was significantly elevated than that in the HF and the control group. Molecular analysis of the DQA1 gene polymorphism performed in the three subgroups shows an increased frequency of DQA1*0501 among patients with less EF. The HF group carries a high frequency of HLA-DQA1*0301. An increased frequency of DQA1*0201 and DQA1*0103 was found in the control group. HLA-DQA1*0501 is an associated gene of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and the possession of DQA1*0301 may be indicative of the known etiologic heart failure, suggesting that the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of IDC and otherwise heart failure are different. Immunologic abnormalities may be a major contributor to the susceptibility of developing of IDC.