Study On Polymorphism Of HLA-DRB1 And TNFαGenes In Relation To The Susceptibility Of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus In Northern Chinese

SLE is a multisystem autoimmune disorder where genetic factors may play an important role in its susceptibility to the disease. Family studies have shown an increased prevalence of SLE in the monozygotic twins than the dizygotic twins. Studies also showed that 10-12% of SLE patients have one or more first or second - degree relatives with the same disease. .Population studies have shown an increased frequency of class â…¡ HLA, eg, DR2 and/or DR3 antigen in SLE, as well as an association with class â…¢ HLA C2 and C4 deficiencies. To us, an important issue is, whether genetic predisposition to SLE, determined by the molecular biologic technic for class â…¡ and class â…¢ HLA, may be implicated with the susceptibility in the Chinese SLE or would the clinical and immunological abnormalities of SLE could be explained on the genetic basis. OBJECTIVETo examine the association of HLA- DRB1 gene to SLE susceptibility in the Northern Chinese, and which alleles is the most common subtype of the HLA- DR2 group in SLE...