ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: An association with class II MHC genes has been described in ulcerative colitis, as in other diseases with immunological pathogenesis. Heterogeneous results have been reported, depending on the studied population. OBJECTIVE: To study the importance of these genes in our population, mainly the alleles of group HLA DR2 (gene HLA-DRB1). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We studied a total of 107 patients diagnosed of ulcerative colitis and 200 unaffected controls. Complete information about sex, age, family antecedent, age of onset, localization, complications, surgery and treatment was obtained from these patients. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes and all the individuals were HLA-DRB1 genotyping. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that a positive association exists between DR15 and ulcerative colitis (p < 0.05). This positive association was characterized and various clinical parameters were analyzed, being concluded that DR1501 is more frequent in this disease (p < 0.05) and in benign manifestations; the frequency of the allele DR1502 was also found to be elevated in severe manifestations.
