Are HLA-DR or TAP genes genetic markers of severity in ulcerative colitis?
The pathogeny of ulcerative colitis (UC) is not yet elucidated, but some arguments suggest the implication of genetic factors. Among the candidate genes, those encoding for HLA class II genotypes have been extensively studied in UC; however, discordant data may be imputable to heterogeneity, characterized by immunological markers such as atypical ANCA (p-ANCA), or to inclusion of more or less intractable UC. The aim of our study is to evaluate the interest of HLA class II and TAP genetic markers to identify different clinical forms of UC, according to p-ANCA status. Unrelated patients with a history of UC (n = 91) and healthy control subjects with no personal or family history of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) (n = 200) were included. HLA-DRB1*03 was less frequent in UC patients than in healthy controls (8% vs 28%, PC < 0.03). No association was found with any TAP genotypes. Moreover, there was no association with the HLA-DR2 specificity, either in the entire group of UC patients (3
