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Characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis relative to HLA-DR in Saudi Arabia
1Rheumatology Division, Department of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. asarfaj@ksu.edu.sa
Objective:
To determine the clinical characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis in Saudi Arabia in relation to human leukocyte antigen type.
Methods:
A group of 91 rheumatoid arthritis patients, 72 females and 19 males were studied for the various clinical, laboratory and radiological parameters along with human leukocyte antigen-DR phenotypes. Since human leukocyte antigen-DR10 was most commonly associated with rheumatoid arthritis in our population, we compared those patients with human leukocyte antigen-DR10 to those without.
Results:
The comparison yielded differences in the presence of rheumatoid nodules, erosions, corticosteroid treatment, joint involvement at presentation, hemoglobin levels, and white cell count. Only the last 3 parameters showed a statistical significance.
Conclusion:
Human leukocyte antigen type of Saudi patients with rheumatoid arthritis influenced the course of the disease but only to a limited extent.