Do specific pockets of HLA-C molecules predispose Jewish patients to psoriasis vulgaris?

Background: Psoriasis vulgaris was reported to be associated with a specific alanine residue at position 73 of HLA-C alleles in Japanese patients.

Objective: Our purpose was to determine the role of HLA genes in susceptibility to psoriasis vulgaris in the Israeli Jewish population.

Methods: Twenty-eight Israeli patients were analyzed for their HLA class I and II specificities by means of serologic and molecular methods.

Effect of zinc therapy on neutrophil chemotaxis in psoriasis.

Neutrophil chemotaxis in patients with psoriasis vulgaris and psoriatic arthritis was investigated before and after 6 weeks of treatment with zinc sulphate (50 mg elementary zinc three times daily). In patients with active psoriasis vulgaris, a significant increase in neutrophil random migration and directed chemotaxis was demonstrated (10.2 +/- 3.

A newly characterized HLA DQ beta allele associated with pemphigus vulgaris.

The inheritance of particular alleles of major histocompatibility complex class II genes increases the risk for various human autoimmune diseases; however, only a small percentage of individuals having an allele associated with susceptibility develop disease. The identification of allelic variants more precisely correlated with disease susceptibility would greatly facilitate clinical screening and diagnosis. Oligonucleotide-primed gene amplification in vitro was used to determine the nucleotide sequence of a class II variant found almost exclusively in patients with the autoimmune skin disease pemphigus vulgaris.