Distribution of tumor necrosis factor alleles (NcoI RFLP) and their relationship to HLA haplotypes in an Italian population.

The NcoI RFLP of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) beta gene was analyzed in a panel of 105 unrelated healthy Italian blood donors. The gene frequencies of the 10.5 kb and 5.

Immunoglobulin and HLA-DP genes contribute to the susceptibility to juvenile dermatitis herpetiformis.

HLA-DQ genes and gluten diet are the main factors involved in the pathogenesis of Dermatitis Herpetiformis (DH), as well as Coeliac Disease (CD). However other genetic factors are probably relevant, since about 10% of the patients with DH and CD lack the DQA1*0501/B1*0201 heterodimer while the majority of individuals presenting this genotype and also being exposed to gluten diets did not suffer from these diseases. To evaluate the role of other genes, 36 Northern Italian children with DH were analysed for DNA polymorphisms at HLA-DP and immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy chain loci.