Association between HLA Class II Alleles and Autoimmune Hepatitis Type 1 in Thai Patients
Tawesak Tanwandee MD*, Sutep Wanichapol MD*, Sasijit Vejbaesya MD**, Sivaporn Chainuvati MD*, Watcharasak Chotiyaputta MD*
Affiliation : * Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital ** Department of Transfusion Medicine, Siriraj Hospital
Objective : To investigate the association between HLA class II alleles and autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) type I
in Thai patients.
Materials and Methods : The clinical data of 50 autoimmune hepatitis patients type 1 (AIH) at Siriraj hepatitis
clinic were analysed, 37 of whom were tested for HLA class II genotyping using polymerase chain reaction and
sequence-specific oligonucleotide technique (PCR-SSO).
Results : AIH is an uncommon chronic hepatitis in Thailand with females predominant. The HLA DRB1*0301,
and DQA1*0101 were significantly associated with AIH patients when compared to controls; (OR = 3.92
[1.18-13.30], p 0.021, OR = 2.31 [1.13-4.73], p 0.019, respectively). When 18 patients with “definite” AIH
were analysed, only HLA DRB1*0301 was still significantly associated with AIH (OR = 5.22, 95%CI = 1.28-
20.92, p 0.015)
Conclusion : HLA genotyping has shown that HLA DRB1*0301 and HLA DQA1*0101 were significantly
associated with AIH.
Keywords : Autoimmune hepatitis type 1, HLA class II alleles
