HLA Antigens and the Development of Retinopathy in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Backgrounds/Aims: Diabetic retinopathy is the most common complication of diabetes mellitus. No single predisposing factor has been identified, and it has been suggested that genetic factors may play a role in the development of severe retinopathy. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relation between human leucocyte antigen (HLA) and development of retinopathy in patient with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Methods: The study was conducted at the retina unit of ophthalmology department of Ondokuz Mayis Univercity between October 1999 and March 2000, and included 46 diabetics with nonproliferative and 30 with proliferative diabetic retinopathy together with 30 non-diabetic control group. HLA class I (A, B, C) antigens were studied by Terasaki's microlymphocytotoxicity test and HLA class II (DR, DQ) typing was carried out by Polymerase Chain Reaction-Sequence Specific Primer (PCR-SSP). Results: While HLA DR4 and DQ8 frequencies were significantly higher in patients with non-proliferative retinopathy compared to patients with proliferative retinopathy, HLA DR7 frequency was significantly higher in patients with proliferative retinopathy than patients with non-proliferative patients (p<0.05). No statistically significant difference was found between control HLA types and patients with proliferative or nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy. These differences in HLA antigen frequencies between patients with and without proliferative retinopathy may indicate that amongst many other factors genetic susceptibility might play a role in the development of diabetic retinopathy. © 2001 Blackwell Science Ltd,.