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Mimura T, Relationship between HLA and retinopathy in patients with type 1 diabetes
1 diabetes,
4
like DR4, and is also known to show strong linkage with DR4 (especially
DRB1 0405).
19
The present study also showed that DR4-DQ4 had the highest
haplotype frequency in the PDR group, suggesting that these HLA antigens may not
only influence the onset of diabetes, but may also be an important factor causing PDR.
B62 and Cw4 were HLA class 1 antigens that were detected at a high frequency in the
PDR group. The B62-DQ4 and Cw4-DQ4 haplotype frequency was higher in the PDR
group (26.7% and 16.7%, respectively) than in the non-DR group (0% and 0%).
Accordingly, it seems reasonable to conclude that B62 and Cw4 (HLA class 1
antigens) promote the development and progression of PDR by forming a haplotype
with the DR and DQ antigens, which are the major sensitivity factor for retinopathy.
Our research suggests that genetic investigations may be useful for predicting the
prognosis of retinopathy in patients with younger-onset Type 1 diabetes. Investigation
of allele haplotypes using PCR-RFLP and other such methods may also be useful for
predicting the prognosis of diabetic retinopathy in these patients.
