Human leukocyte antigen-DRB1 alleles in patients with sarcoidosis from Northeast Iran

Sarcoidosis a systemic granulomatous disorder of unknown etiology with varying clinical pictures. HLA genes, especially HLA-DRB1, have been shown to be candidates for the etiology of sarcoidosis. This study examined the association between the polymorphism of HLA-DRB1 alleles and sarcoidosis in Iranian subjects. The study population included 58 patients with sarcoidosis and 68 healthy controls. Genomic DNA was extracted, and the polymorphisms of the HLA-DRB1 alleles were determined using a polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primer (PCR-SSP). The frequency of HLA-DRB1*07 was higher in sarcoidosis patients (25.8%) than in controls (15.3%); however no significant difference was observed between the two groups (P>0.05). The frequency of HLA-DRB1*11 was higher in the control group (31.9%) than in cases (22.4%), but no significant difference was detected between the groups (P>0.05). The results of the present study showed that there is no association between HLA-DRB1 alleles and susceptibility to sarcoidosis in Mashhad, Northeast Iran. Further studies with large sample sizes are required in order to clarify this issue.