Class II Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) and Susceptibility to Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy in Afro-Caribbean Descent

PURPOSE: To evaluate how the HLA genotype is associated to the polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) in a population of patients of Afro-Caribbean descent. METHODS: Forty-seven patients were diagnosed with PCV. The number of control patients was 457. All affected patients and control patients were of Afro-Caribbean descent and natives to Martinique. HLA typing was based on blood sample, using the polymerase chain reaction technique. Comparison of HLA alleles between the 2 groups was done using chi-2 test, odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval using Woolf’s method. The Bonferroni correction was considered significant when p-value ≤0.05. Alleles frequency was analyzed for DRB1 and DQB1 locus. RESULTS: HLA-DRB1*13 allele was significantly associated to PCV (OR = 2.02, CI = [1.3; 3.13], p = 0.003). In group DRB1, the Bonferroni correction significance threshold was <0.004. HLA-DQB1*04 allele was significantly associated to PCV (OR = 3.5, CI = [1.48; 8.3], p = 0.006). In group DQB1, the Bonferroni correction significance threshold was <0.006. CONCLUSION: Two HLA alleles are positively associated to PCV. The possible association between PCV and certain alleles suggest HLA implication in PCV pathogeny, most likely by modeling the immune system response.