Study on association between polymorphism of HLA-DRB1 alleles and Behcet's disease

Background Behcet's disease (BD) is known to be associated with human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-B*51 in many ethnic groups. However, the association of HLA class II gene with BD has been described to be different according to different countries and regions. Objective This study aims to investigate the association between polymorphism of HLA-DRB1 alleles and BD. Methods Forty patients with BD and 100 healthy controls were typed for HLA-DRB1 alleles by the LABTypeTM SSO method. Results The frequency of HLA-DRB1*14 was significantly higher in BD patients than in controls (P < 0.05), while the frequency of HLA-DRB1*15 was markedly lower in BD patients (P < 0.05). Regarding clinical manifestations, the frequency of HLA-DRB1*15 was significantly decreased in BD patients with genital ulcerations compared with controls (P < 0.05); the frequency of HLA-DRB1*14 was significantly increased in BD patients with erythema nodosum-like lesions and in BD patients with folliculitis-like lesions when compared to controls (P < 0.05, respectively). Moreover, the frequency of HLA-DRB1*14 was significantly increased in BD patients under 20 years of age at the onset of disease (P < 0.01), while the frequency of HLA-DRB1*15 was significantly decreased in them (P < 0.05), compared with controls. Conclusion The results suggested that HLA-DRB1 alleles might play an important role in the onset and clinical manifestations of BD.