Association Study between Multiple SclerosisDisease and HLA DQA0102*1 in South-West Iran

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory and degenerative diseaseof the human central nervous system (CNS). Genetic aberrations of autoimmunity pathwaycomponents have been proven to significantly influence MS development. According togenome wide association studies (GWAS), HLA in the 6p21 locus seem to be associatedwith the MS. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the remarkable association of oneallele at 6p21 locus, HLA DQA1*0102, with MS in South-West Iran.Methods: In this case-control study, HLA DQA1*0102 was analyzed in MS patients.The collected blood samples belonging to 205 MS patients (case group) and 202 healthyindividuals (control group) were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction using specificsequence primers (PCR-SSP) technique, and we examined the relationship of genotypeswith risk factors such as gender, age, phase of the disease and other clinical parameters.Data analyzed using SPSS 16 statistical software and chi square testResults: We observed a significant difference in the frequency distribution of HLADQA1*0102 (OR = 0.37; 95% CI = 0.23-0.67; P-value = 0.006) between patients andcontrols. Strong association was found between the HLA DQA1*0102 and Intestinalsymptoms of MS (P = 0.029). However, there was no association between HLADQA1*0102 and various classifications and severity of MS. No significant association wasfound between this allele in Arabs as compared with the control group.Conclusions: The higher frequency of HLA DQA1*0102 in controls indicates that HLADQA1*0102 may play a protective role against developing MS. This study is in line withprevious study in Iran; but contrasts with most of the studies in Europeanpopulations andis the first study reporting in southwest Iran and Arab population