Association of HLA-B51/5 in Patients of Behcet's Disease Referred to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Pakistan

To determine the association of HLA-B51/5 in patients of Behcet's disease (BD) in local symptomatic patients.

A cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Immunology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from August 2020 to July 2023.

Blood samples of 100 study participants, including 50 symptomatic patients of BD and 50 disease-free individuals (healthy controls), were taken. DNA was extracted and amplified using sequence-specific primers. Electrophoresis was conducted on 2% agarose gel to separate the DNA. The presence of HLA-B51/5 alleles was determined by analysing the unique band patterns visible on the gel under the ultraviolet light. Descriptive statistics were shown as mean ± SD. Chi-square test was employed to find any significant association between HLA-B51/5 and the disease group and its severity sub-groups. A p-value of less than 0.05 was deemed significant.

The majority of participants, 73 (73%), were females and 27 (27%) were males, with a mean age of 26.84 ± 5.31 years. HLA-B51/5 was positive in 33 of the BD patients (66.0%, <0.001) and 4 of the healthy controls (8.0%). There was no significant difference in HLA-B51 among mild, moderate, and severe BD sub-groups.

HLA-B51/5 is strongly associated with BD in local population and serves as a useful tool for diagnosis of BD. However, it is not associated with the disease severity.

Agarose gel, Behcet's disease, Electrophoresis, HLA-B51/5 allele, ICBD criteria.