HLA-Cw6 Polymorphism in Autoimmune Blistering Diseases

Autoimmune blistering diseases of the pemphigus and pemphigoid groups are immune-mediated disorders due to circulating pathogenetic autoantibodies. Multiple human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes have been associated with predisposition to these disorders. HLA-Cw6 is involved in antigen presentation processes and has been linked to psoriasis. The aim of our study was to investigate the association between the presence of the HLA-Cw6 allele and susceptibility to pemphigus vulgaris and bullous pemphigoid. A genetic study in vitro with a cross-sectional design was performed enrolling forty patients with pemphigus vulgaris and forty patients with bullous pemphigoid. The detection of HLA-Cw6 was performed through the EUROArray test on DNA obtained from whole blood samples. The polymorphism was detected in 3/40 genotypes in the pemphigus vulgaris group and in 4/40 genotypes of patients with bullous pemphigoid, unveiling a non-statistically significant different frequency in pemphigus (p = 0.6368) and in pemphigoid (p = 0.62) compared to the reference frequency from the literature of 0.086. Further research is needed to better investigate the role of HLA-Cw6 in immune-mediated diseases and to identify novel genetic markers associated with susceptibility to autoimmune blistering diseases and with disease severity and response to immunosuppressive therapies.