HLA antigens in Italian patients with primary Sjoegren's syndrome

Abstract

Twenty eight Italian patients with primary Sjoegren's syndrome were typed for class I and class II alloantigens of the major histocompatibility complex. Patients with Sjoegren's syndrome had higher prevalence of DR3 (46.4% v 14% in the control population, p corrected <0.02), while similar prevalence was found for DR2 and DRw52 alloantigens. DR3 correlated with DRw52 (p<0.0001), anti-Ro(SSA) (p<0.0002) and anti-La(SSB) (p<0.02) antibodies, and extraglandular manifestations (p<0.02). In addition, extraglandular involvement was associated with anti-Ro antibodies (p<0.05) and raised gammaglobulins (p<0.02). In Italian patients with primary Sjoegren's syndrome DR3 is the genetic marker related to this clinical entity and seems to identify a disease subset characterized by autoantibody production and extraglandular manifestations.