ANALYSIS OF MHC CLASS-II ANTIGENS IN JAPANESE IDDM BY A NOVEL HLA-TYPING METHOD, HYBRIDIZATION PROTECTION ASSAY

We examined HLA Class II antigens in 116 Japanese IDDM patients [84 typical IDDM (T-IDD); 32 slowly progressive IDDM (S-IDD)] by the hybridization protection assay (HPA) which is a novel HLA typing method based on hybridization of acridinium-ester-labeled DNA probes to amplified DNA. We detected HLA-DRB1, -DQA1 and -DQB1 genes by this method which is capable of analyzing over 50 samples within 4 h with high sensitivity. Positive associations were found in DRB1*0405, DRB1*0802, DRB1*0901, DQA1*0301, DQB1*0303 and DQB1*0401, negative correlations in DRB1*0403, DR2, DR12, DRB1*0801 or 03, DQA1*0101 or 02, DQA1*0501, DQB1*0301 and DQB1*0602 alleles. The absence of aspartic acid (Asp) at position 57 of the DRB1 chain and the presence of arginine (Arg) at position 52 of the DQA1 chain correlated positively with both types of IDDM. There were no significant differences in HLA between T-IDD and S-IDD. These results suggest that the absence of Asp at position 57 of the DRB1 chain and the presence of Arg at position 52 of the DQA1 chain are significant in Japanese IDDM patients and that DRB1*0802, in which the amino acid at position 57 is aspartic acid, may play a role in the pathogenesis of IDDM. Also, T-IDD and S-IDD have common bases in the HLA gene.