Typing of Human Leukocyte Antigen in Patients with Inner Ear Disorders-Preliminary Report / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: It has been well known that a number of autoimmune diseases are associated with certain types of human leukocyte antigen (HLA). The pathogenesis of inner ear disorders including Meniere's disease, idiopathic progressive sensorineural hearing loss, sudden sensorineural hearing loss and otosclerosis has not been clearly understood; however it is thought that some of the disorders are related to abnormal immune response, especially autoimmunity. This study was performed to investigate the association between HLA gene and inner ear disorders in Korean and confirm that some of inner ear disorders are mediated by abnormal immune response. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For 29 patients with inner ear disorders and 20 healthy persons without any ear disorders, we performed serologic tests for the typing of HLA-A and HLA-B, and reverse dot hybridization for the typing of HLA-DR. In addition, we also carried out both immunologic screening tests and Western blotting immunoassay against cow's inner ear proteins. RESULT: (1) The frequencies of HLA-A26, HLA-B61, HLA-B62, and HLA-DRB1*04 are significantly increased in the progressive idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss. (2) HLA-DRB1*04 is associated with Meniere's disease. (3) Both HLA-A26 and HLA-B61 are associated with the sudden sensorineural hearing loss. CONCLUSION: Several types of HLA genes were shown to be significantly associated with inner ear disorders despite the small sample size. The results suggest that several specific HLA gene products may confer susceptibility to inner ear diseases.