ASSOCIATION OF HUMAN HISTOCOMPATIBILITY ANTIGENS (HLA) WITH RECURRENT APHTHOUS

Triggers and genetic factors, that are not well established, converge in the etiopathogenesis of aphthous lesions. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between recurrent aphthous and HLA in the studied population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, cross-sectional study was designed, which included patients with a history of recurrent aphthous (study group) attending the Oral Medicine Department, and 1216 organ donors in the control group. In both groups, blood samples were taken to perform HLA A-B-DQ-DR determination by SSO-PCR (enzymatic amplification of the A, B, DQ and DR locus with specifically labeled oligonucleotide probes). Subjects in the control group were donors without a history of aphthous. The study group was submitted to a work protocol in which filiation data, age, sex, clinical characteristics of aphthous lesion (number, size, location, recurrence) and laboratory studies were recorded. The study group consisted of 49 patients who met with inclusion criteria, 47% were female, and mean age was 39.46 +/- 2.75. RESULTS: Sixty-nine % (34/49) of patients had major aphthous ulcers. The relative risk (RR) of patients with aphthous lesions and the control group with no history of aphthous, in relation to HLA A was: HLA A 23 RR 1.71 CI 0.62-4.72, HLA B 27 RR: 2.94 CI 1.23-705, HLA DQ6 RR: 3.1 CI 1.72-5.58, HLA DR 12 RR: 7.94 CI 3.14-20.15 and HLA DR 15 RR: 3, 11 IC 1.68-5.73. The HLAs that prevailed in patients with aphthous were HLA A2, accounting for 47% (23/49) and HLA DQ2, accounting for 45% (22/49); similar results were observed in the control group. CONCLUSION: The results of our study suggest that oral aphthous are associated with antigens HLA B27, HLA DR 12 and HLA DR 15, in our population. First line of research in Argentina.