Implication of HLA-DMA Alleles in Corsican IDDM

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Cucchi-Mouillot, P.^; | Lai, S. | Carcassi, C. | Sorba, P. | Stuart-Simoni, M. | Amoros, J.P. | Genetet, B. | Haras, D. | Contu, L.

Affiliations: CEVAREN, Université de Corse, Campus Grossetti, 20250 Corte, France | Cattedra di Genetica Medica, Università di Cagliari, via San Giorgio 12, 09124 Cagliari, Italia | Centre Hospitalier Général d'Ajaccio, 20000 Ajaccio, France | Groupe Universitaire de Recherche en Immunologie et Immunopathologie, EA 1257, Université Rennes I, 2 av. du AR. Léon Bernard, 35 043 Rennes, France

Note: [] Correspondence: Dr Patricia Cucchi-Mouillot-CEVAREN, Université de Corse, Campus Grossetti, 20250 Corte, France, Tel: 33 4 95 45 00 27, Fax: 33 4 95 61 05 51, E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: The HLA-DM molecule catalyses the CLIP/antigen peptide exchange in the classical class II peptide-binding groove. As such, DM is an antigen presentation regulator and may be linked to autoimmune diseases. Using PCR derived methods, a relationship was revealed between DM gene polymorphism and IDDM, in a Corsican population. The DMA*0101 allele was observed to confer a significant predisposition to this autoimmune disease while the DMA*0102 allele protected significantly. Experiments examining polymorphism of the HLA-DRB1 gene established that these relationships are not a consequence of linkage disequilibrium with HLA-DRB1 alleles implicated in this pathology. The study of the DMA gene could therefore be an additional tool for early IDDM diagnosis in the Corsican population.

Keywords: diabetes, HLA-DMA, Corsica

Journal: Disease Markers, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 135-141, 1998