The protective role of the HLA-DR locus in patients with various clinical types of alopecia areata.

One of the genetic factors associated with the development of alopecia areata (AA) is the HLA locus. The study comprised 52 patients with AA aged 10 to 64 years. The frequences of HLA-DRB alleles in the patients and controls were compared. The control group comprised 152 healthy persons. Familial occurrence of AA was seen in 7 (13.5%) cases. A significantly lower frequency of HLA-DRB1*03 was observed in patients with AA comparison with the control group. In all patients with AA, alleles HLA-DRB1*15/*16 occurred more frequently than in the control group, but this was not significant after correction. In the group of patients with more severe forms of alopecia areata (alopecia areata totalis/alopecia areata universalis) there was no significant difference in HLA-DR allele distribution.