Hla–dr8 and acute anterior uveitis in ankylosing spondylitis

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Abstract
Objective. To identify possible factors in the development of acute anterior uveitis (AUU) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods. We investigated HLA antigens serologically, and HLA–DRB1*08 alleles by polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism, in 42 Japanese AS patients with and without AAU. Results. Thirty-six of the AS patients (85.7%) had HLA–B27. Thirteen (65%) of the 20 patients with AAU had HLA–DR8, whereas only 1 (4.5%) of the 22 patients without AAU had DR8. The difference was statistically significant (Pcorr < 0.001). Conclusion. Our data suggest that HLA–B27 is strongly associated with AS in Japanese patients and that HLA–DR8 is important for the development of AAU in Japanese patients with AS.