Microsatellite polymorphism within the MICB gene among Japanese patients with Behcet's disease

Behcet's disease (BD) is known to be associated with HLA-B51. In order to investigate the influence of the MICE gene, located about 120 kb centromeric of the HLA-B gene, on the susceptibility to BD, (CA/TG) dinucleotide repeat microsatellite polymorphism in intron 1 of the MICE gene was investigated among 77 Japanese patients with ED, 60 randomly selected controls and 28 HLA-B51-positive unrelated healthy controls. There was no significant difference in the phenotype frequency of the microsatellite polymorphism between the ED patients and controls. This result suggests that the MICE gene itself is not responsible for the development of BD, and that the candidate gene(s) for BD is located between the MICA and HLA-C genes. Human Immunology 59, 500-502 (1998). (C) American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, 1998. Published by Elsevier Science Inc.