Human leukocyte antigen in Japanese patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy

Objective: The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is the strongest genetic risk factor for idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM), and different HLA alleles have been reported to be associated with IIM susceptibility among different ethnic groups. In this study, we have investigated HLA alleles associated with IIM in Japanese patients. Methods: Genotyping of HLA-DRB1 and DPB1 were performed in 252 Japanese IIM patients (166 dermatomyositis [DM] and 86 polymyositis [PM] patients) and the association was analyzed with comparison to controls (n = 1026 for DRB1 and n = 413 for DPB1). Results:DRB1*08:03 was associated with IIM (p = 1.60 × 10−5, pc = .0005, odds ratio [OR] 2.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.52–2.92) and DM (p = .0004, pc = .0128, OR 2.06, 95%CI 1.40–3.02). DPB1*05:01 was also associated with IIM (p = .0001, pc = .0021, OR 1.96, 95%CI 1.38–2.77) and DM (p = .0005, pc = .0075, OR 2.05, 95%CI 1.37–3.08). DRB1*09:01 (p = .0012, pc = .0368, OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.18–0.69) and DPB1*04:01(p = .0004, pc = .0057, OR 0.05, 95% CI 0.00–0.85) were protectively associated with PM. Two locus analyses suggested that DRB1*09:01 and DPB1*04:01 were independently associated with PM. Conclusion: Protective associations of HLA were detected in Japanese PM patients.