[Association of immunomodulators and HLA antigens in rheumatoid arthritis]

We studied the association between HLA antigens and clinical response to immunomodulators or the toxic effects of immunomodulators in 191 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). All patients received nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Fifty-seven patients were treated with auranofin, 61 patients with penicillamine and 45 patients with lobenzarit. We found that HLA-Cw 1 is significantly (p less than 0.05) associated with a substantial clinical response to auranofin in RA patients (65% vs 33% of Cw 1-negative patients). We observed that HLA-DR 4 is a risk factor for the occurrence of toxic reactions to penicillamine (45% vs 21% of DR 4-negative patients: p less than 0.05) and that HLA-DRw 9 is a risk factor in the case of lobenzarit (62% vs 32% of DRw 9-negative patients: p less than 0.05). HLA-A 24-positive patients with RA experienced a low frequency of side effects from auranofin (16% vs 37% of A 24-negative patients: p less than 0.05). HLA-A 2 or Cw 7-positive patients with RA experienced a low frequency of side effects from penicillamine (12% vs 49% of A 2-negative patients: p less than 0.01, 17% vs 46% of Cw 7-negative patients: p less than 0.05). Our data demonstrated that HLA antigens are significantly associated with a clinical response to immunomodulators and the toxic effects of immunomodulators in patients with RA.