Relationship between HLA-DRB 1 genotypes and efficacy of oral type II collagen treatment using chicken cartilage soup in rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

The correlation between the efficacy of type II collagen (C II) treatment of the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the exsitence of HLA-DRB 1 ✽ 0405 allele was investigated in two groups of patients; the first group had HLA-DRB 1 ✽ 0405 allele (the 0405 group) and the second had no such allele (the non-0405 group). Thirty-eight RA patients were given a chicken cartilage soup containing heat degenerated C II (the CII group) or a placebo soup (the placebo group) for three months. The 38 cases were composed of 11 cases in the 0405/ C II group, 9 in the 0405/placebo group, 11 in the non-0405/C II group, 9 cases in the non-0405/ placebo group. In the C II group, there was a significant increae in the anti-human C II IgA antibody serum titers (p=0.003) and significant decrease in the anti-human C II IgG titer (p<0.0001). The differences in the number of swollen and tender joints were statistically significant between the 0405/C II and 0405/placebo groups (p of the swollen joints = 0.03, and p of the tender joints = 0.03), and between the 0405/C II and non-0405/C II groups (p = 0.006 and 0.01, respectively). We concluded that oral C II could have a therapeutic efficacy in RA patients with HLA-DRB 1 ✽ 0405 allele. © 1997, The Japan Society for Clinical Immunology. All rights reserved.