HLA genotyping and autoimmune hepatitis

Autoimmune hepatitis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the liver that results from a loss of immunological tolerance against normal hepatocyte antigens. This study is based on the determination of the alleles and haplotypes of the DRB1 and DQB1 genes that increase susceptibility to HAI and the protective alleles and haplotypes as well as the search for association between the expression of certain HLA alleles with the clinical manifestations of the disease. Thirty Tunisian adult patients with HAI underwent HLA class II typing using the SSP PCR technique. A significant association of HAI with HLA DRB1*03 was found with a frequency of 56.7% in patients compared to controls. A protective allele for HAI, HLA DRB1*11, was revealed with a significantly decreased frequency in patients compared to controls (6.7% in patients compared to 25% in controls).A better understanding of the immunological mechanisms involved in autoimmune hepatitis will probably lead to better targeted treatments.