Association of the HLA-DQA1*0501 allele in multiple racial groups with juvenile dermatomyositis

We wanted to determine if HLA-DQA1*0501 is as strongly associated with JDLMS in Hispanic and African Americans as it is in Caucasians. Using DNA sequencing and oligonucleotide typing, the DNA of 70 JDMS subjects was studied. The HLA-DQA1 allele DQA1*0501 was present in 13 out of 15 (87%) of the African-American JDMS subjects vs 9 out of 27 (33%) of the African-American controls (p < 0.0009), 12 out of 13 (92%) of the Hispanic JDMS subjects vs 5 out of 18 (28%) of the Hispanic controls (p < 0.0004), and 36 out of 42 (86%) of the Caucasian JDMS subjects vs 36 out of 78 (46%) of the Caucasian controls (p < 0.0009).