Register for email alerts and news feeds:
This journal | BMJ Group
rss
Published Online First: 7 May 2009. doi:10.1136/jmg.2009.066647
Journal of Medical Genetics 2009;46:469-471
Copyright © 2009 by the BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

LETTERS TO JMG

The effect of the MHC locus on autoantibodies in type 1 diabetes

H-Q Qu, C Polychronakos

Departments of Pediatrics and Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada

Dr C Polychronakos, Departments of Pediatrics and Human Genetics Director, Pediatric Endocrinology McGill University Health Center (Children’s Hospital), 2300 Tupper, Montréal, QC Canada H3H 1P3; constantin.polychronakos{at}mcgill.ca

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate whether the presence of autoantibodies specific for type 1 diabetes (T1D) is determined by the major genetic susceptibility locus for the disease at the HLA genes, using the T1D Genetics Consortium data.

Methods: We analysed anti-IA-2 and anti-GAD 65 autoantibody data from 2282 T1D patients from 1117 multiplex families. HLA genotyping was available for all cases and their parents and association with autoantibody positivity was tested by the transmission disequilibrium test.

Results: Association of anti-IA-2 with the HLA genes was detected at high statistical significance. HLA-DRB1*0401 confers both the strongest type 1 diabetes risk, and positive association of anti-IA-2, whereas the DRB1*03- DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201 haplotype, associated less strongly with T1D, showed a significant negative association with anti-IA-2 positivity. Interestingly, HLA-A*24 is also negatively associated with anti-IA-2, independently of the DRB1*03- DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201 haplotype. No statistically significant association was identified between anti-GAD65 and HLA.

Conclusions: This study highlights that IA-2 as an autoantigen depends on HLA genotype and suggests new insights into the mechanism of loss of immune tolerance.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

This Article

Services
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
Bookmark with

Register for free content

The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.

Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.

Genetics jobs

Genetics jobs