HLA analysis in patients with degenerative diseases of the temporomandibular joint

The aim of this study was to determine the presence of HLA alleles, specifically HLA-DR alleles, and to correlate them with clinical and radiological features of patients with degenerative processes (DP) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). The final goal was to determine which allele can be used to identify patients having more aggressive forms of the articular pathologies. Thirty-two (32) Caucasian patients with DP of the TMJ were included in the study. The SSOP (Luminex Corp., Austin, TX) method was used to determine class II HLA alleles. The presence of HLA-II DR in patients with DP of the TMJ was 98%. The presence of HLA was significantly higher in patients with DP of the TMJ than in healthy subjects (66%) (p=0.003). HLA DR52 was significantly more frequent in patients than in healthy individuals (40.62% vs. 13.79%, p = 0.041). While the percentage of DR11 positive individuals was also higher among patients than among healthy control subjects, the association with DP of the TMJ was not significant (p=0.220). Patients having the DR52 allele had higher deformation or DP. It was concluded that HLA-DR54 and DR11 alleles are associated with a higher susceptibility to DP of the TMJ, and HLA-DR54 and DR52 are associated with a higher severity of DP.