DNA analysis of HLA–DR and DQ genes in american blacks with systemic lupus erythematosus

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Abstract
We studied DNA polymorphisms of HLA–DR and DQ alleles in 63 American black patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We found no HLA–DRβ, DQα, or DQβ restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) or RFLP-determined DR or DQ specificity associated with SLE in either the patients or in 57 control subjects. DRw52b was positively associated with renal involvement and negatively associated with anti–nuclear RNP antibodies. Antibodies to Ro (SS-A) and La (SS-B) were associated with DR3(DRw17), DQw2.3. Early-onset SLE (≦20 years of age) was associated with DRw8, and the frequency of neuropsychiatric involvement correlated negatively with a 3.7-kb Taq I DQα RFLP. This suggests a role for DR and DQ genes in the clinical and serologic expression of SLE in American blacks.