Association study of the HLA class I system with psoriatic arthritis in Southern Tunisia: a case-control study.

Introduction/objectives: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic inflammatory rheumatism belonging to the spondyloarthritis family. It is a multifactorial disease whose genetic determinism is still poorly understood. It is favored by environmental factors in genetically predisposed individuals.

Association of HLA Alleles with Primary Sjögren Syndrome in the South Tunisian Population.

Objective: In order to investigate human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes predisposing to primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS), we conducted an association study using HLA loci (A, B, and DRB1) and 9 polymorphic microsatellite markers spanning the HLA region in pSS patients as compared to healthy individuals.

Subjects And Methods: Forty-four patients fitting the European criteria of pSS and 123 healthy controls were analyzed for their HLA class I and class II alleles. HLA class I typing was performed using a standard microlymphocytotoxicity method followed by PCR-SSP.

HLA Class III: A susceptibility region to systemic lupus erythematosus in Tunisian population.

Background And Objectives: Short tandem repeats (STR) are usually used as informative polymorphic markers for genetic mapping and for disease susceptibility analysis. The involvement of these microsatellite markers localized in the MHC region was reported in many auto-immune diseases. In this study we analyzed for the first time eight polymorphisms of microsatellite loci at the HLA region: D6S291, D6S273, TNFa, b and c, MICA, D6S265 and D6S276, in Tunisian systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients.

Human leukocyte antigens-DRB1*03 is associated with systemic lupus erythematosus and anti-SSB production in South Tunisia.

Introduction: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with various presentations. This variation is due to the interaction of hormonal, environmental, and genetic factors. Associations between human leukocyte antigens and SLE have long been recognized in different ethnic populations and have been suggested to represent the most important association.

Beyond Human Leukocyte Antigen Class I Antigens: Hereditary Hemochromatosis Gene Mutations in Recurrent Aphthous Oral Ulcers and Behçet Disease in the South of Tunisia.

Objective: The aim of this work was to establish human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and hereditary hemochromatosis gene (HFE) mutation associations with recurrent aphthous oral ulcers (RAOU) and Behçet disease (BD) in a cohort of Southern Tunisian patients.

Subjects And Methods: A total of 232 patients with RAOU and 123 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided into 2 groups based on the presence (BD+: n = 62) or absence of BD (BD-, n = 170).

Association study of MICA-TM polymorphism with inflammatory bowel disease in the South Tunisian population.

Background: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are chronic inflammatory disorders of the gastro-intestinal tract with unknown etiology. Both environmental and genetic factors are involved in the pathogenesis of these inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).

Aim: The purpose of the present study was to determine the association between the polymorphism of the transmembrane region of MICA (MICA-TM), and the genetic susceptibility in Tunisian patients with IBD.

Analysis of HLA-A, -B, -C, -DR, -DQ polymorphisms in the South Tunisian population and a comparison with other populations.

Background: The Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA) system is often used as a genetic marker for analysing populations. HLA antigen distribution among the Tunisian population is not well defined because of the lack of a general population study.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate the polymorphism of HLA-A, -B, -C, -DR and -DQ loci in the South Tunisian population.

Association study of human leukocyte antigen-DRB1 alleles with rheumatoid arthritis in south Tunisian patients.

The aim of this study is to explore relationship between HLA-DRB1 alleles and the susceptibility and clinical features of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the south Tunisian population. We studied 142 RA patients and 123 controls matched for age, sex, and ethnicity. HLA-DRB1 genotyping and HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes were performed using polymerase chain reaction/sequence-specific primers.

Association and frequency of HLA-A, B and HLA-DR genes in south Tunisian patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA).

The aim of this study is to investigate the association of HLA-A, B and HLA-DR gene expression and to assess an association of additional HLA antigens besides HLA-B27 in south Tunisian patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA). Eighty-five patients diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS, n=68) and reactive arthrithis (ReA, n=17) were selected and compared with 100 healthy controls (HC). HLA class I antigens were typed serologically using microlymphocytotoxicity technique.

Distribution of HLA-B27 and its alleles in patients with reactive arthritis and with ankylosing spondylitis in Tunisia.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the frequency of HLA-B27 and its alleles in reactive arthritis (ReA) and in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in Tunisia. HLA-B27 alleles were typed by PCR amplification with sequence-specific primers. We studied 17 patients with ReA associated with urethritis or with gastrointestinal infection; 42 HLA-B27-positive patients with AS and 100 healthy controls.