HLA class II polymorphism and IDDM susceptibility in the Greek population

The frequencies of HLA-DQA1, DQB1 and DRB1 alleles were compared between 50 Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Melitus (IDDM) patients and 49 healthy controls in the Greek population. Statistically significant difference in the frequencies of HLA-DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201 (P = 10(-4)), DQA1*0301-DQB1*0201 (P = 0.01) and DQA1*0301-DQB1*0302 (P = 0.001) were observed. The DRB1*0405-DQA1*0301-DQB1*0201 was the only DR, DQ combination significantly associated with the disease. The unexpected increase of DRB1*0405 observed in the Greek IDDM may suggest as reported in Chinese and Japanese IDDM a contribution of DR beta and DQ alpha in susceptibility. Moreover, in contrast to the Asians, in the Greek, the DR beta, DQ alpha are found with the usual DQ beta 57-ve.