The contribution of HLA molecules to Dupuytren's contracture in a Southeast Brazilian population.

PURPOSE The aim of the present study was to investigate the HLA phenotype in Dupuytren's contracture (DC) patients in order to verify the correlation of these alleles with risk factors for development of DC in the Brazilian population. METHODS This was a case-controlled study of 25 DC patients and 443 healthy individuals with no history of HLA-associated diseases. HLA class I and class II typing was performed using the polymerase chain reaction sequence-specific primer method. RESULTS The HLAB*18 phenotype was observed in 32% of the patients and 10.5% of controls. However, P values did not remain significant after correction. DISCUSSION Although we observed an increased tendency of DC patients to possess the HLA-B*18 allele, the results were not statistically significant after correction. This allele was higher in patients of Italian and/or Spanish ethnicity, localities with frequencies higher than 18.0% and 14.0% respectively. Further investigation with a larger cohort of DC patients is required to confirm the potential role of HLA in this disease.