Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DRB1 alleles in Kuwaiti Arabs with schizophrenia

Abstract

The frequency of human leukocyte anti- gen DRB1 alleles was determined in a cohort of 194 Kuwaiti Arabs consisting of 80 schizophrenia patients and 114 ethnically matched healthy controls, using a polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primers method. A total of 12 DRB1 alleles were identified in this Kuwaiti cohort. A statistically significant difference was detected in the frequency of alleles DRB1(*)04 and DRB1(*)13 between the schizophrenia patients and controls. Allele frequency of DRB1(*)04 in schizophrenia patients was 14% compared with nearly 7% in controls (P = 0.028). For DRB1(*)13, the allele frequency was found to be 18% in schizophrenia patients compared with 9% in the controls (P = 0.015). For alleles, DRB1(*)03, DRB1(*)07, and DRB1(*)16 the frequency was higher in controls compared with schizophrenia patients. The frequency of DRB1(*)01, DRB1(*)08, DRB1(*)10, DRB1(*)11, and DRB1(*)15 alleles was almost identical in schizophrenia patients and controls. For the remaining alleles, the differences between the two groups were not statistically significant. Am. J. Med. Genet. (Neuropsychiatr. Genet.) 96:870-872, 2000.

Strong combined gene–environment effects in anti–cyclic citrullinated peptide–positive rheumatoid arthritis: A nationwide case–control study in Denmark

“…The magnitude and statistical significance of the association observed in the present study and its specificity to the anti‐CCP–positive subtype of RA render it unlikely to be a result of chance or spurious recall problems. The finding is potentially interesting, because previous observations point to possible common etiologic features between some autoimmune diseases and schizophrenia, although conflicting results have been obtained for the association between the HLA–DR4 genotype and the risk of schizophrenia (28, 29). Further examination of possible links between schizophrenia and anti‐CCP–positive RA is warranted.…”

Frequencies of HLA‐A, HLA‐B, HLA‐DR, and HLA‐DQ phenotypes in the United Arab Emirates population

“…A study on Arabs with Type 1 diabetes demonstrated a negative association with DR2 (28). HLA‐DR7 is also negatively associated with Grave's disease (29) and with schizophrenia in Kuwaiti Arabs (30). Decreased frequencies of DR2 and DR7 were reported in Caucasian renal patients (10).…”

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“…An association between schizophrenia and RA is potentially interesting because the prevalence of RA was recently found to be significantly higher in parents of schizophrenia patients compared with parents of non-psychiatric comparison subjects [32]. Furthermore, a genetic link between schizophrenia and RA has been suggested [33]. In apparent contrast, however, studies of intra-individual disease correlations have shown a deficit of RA diagnoses in patients with schizophrenia.…”