Association of HLA antigens with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome in a Han Chinese population

M. Zhao, Y. Jiang and I. W. Abrahams
Department of Ophthalmology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Human Medical University, Peoples Republic of China.

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome, or the uveomeningitis syndrome, is one of the most commonly identified types of endogenous uveitis diagnosed in China. Because its incidence is higher in Orientals than in whites, immunogenetic backround may be an important factor in its incidence. We performed HLA-A, -B, and -DR typing on 25 patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome and on 65 healthy control subjects from the Han Chinese population. The results showed that HLA-DR4 and -Dw53 were closely associated with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome (P less than .001 [relative risk = 16.0] and P less than .001 [relative risk = 34.2], respectively). This association is similar to that reported in patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome in Japan, suggesting that DR4 and DRw53 may play important roles in the development of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome in Oriental populations.