Clinical significance of the HLA-DR11 positive subset in patients with severe alopecia areata (AA)

• Published in: Genes and immunity Vol. 6; p. S28
• Main Authors: da Costa, CM, Vandercruys, M, Hidajat, M, Andrien, M, Song, M, Stenne, J J, Dupont, E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.04.2005
• ISSN: 1466-4879

AA is an autoimmune and polygenic disorder affecting the hair follicle. An association with HLA-DR11 antigen has been previously shown. In autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis or diabetes mellitus type I, existence of an HLA association indicates a clinical course different to the forms not associated with HLA. We investigated age of onset and gravity of the disease in 88 severe AA patients in relationship with presence or absence of HLA-DR11. Among them, a significant DR11 association (36.3 vs 21.2% in controls; p = 0.004; RR = 2.1) was confirmed. No predominance of any DR11 subtype was observed. The DR11+ AA subset was characterized by an earlier onset of the first patch = mean age in DR11+ = 16.4 plus or minus 2.6 vs 27.3 plus or minus 2.3 ys in DR11-; p = 0.03) and a significant excess of patients with first patch appearing prior 20 years (72 vs 40%; p = 0.0065). Concerning gravity of the disease, no significant difference in terms of AT/AU vs non AT/AU forms appeared. Our findings suggest that the DR11 mediated form of AA is related to an earlier age of onset but not to a more serious form of the disease. Although less spectacular, this proportion is reminiscent of what is observed in type I psoriasis in which HLA-Cw*0602 is present in 75% of the patients.