Association of Human Leukocyte Antigens Class II Variants with Susceptibility to Hidradenitis Suppurativa in a Caucasian Spanish Population.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory cutaneous disease of the hair follicle typically presenting recurrent, painful, and inflamed lesions on the inverse areas of the body. Although its pathogenesis remains unknown, the immune system appears to play a potential role. To date, two previous studies have not found any association between the Human Leukocyte Antigen system (HLA) and HS. In this study we analyzed the , ; and , - and allele distribution in 106 HS patients and 262 healthy controls from a Caucasian population in Cantabria (northern Spain). *29 and *50 were significantly more common in HS patients and *30 and *37 in controls, but these associations disappeared after statistical correction. *07, *02, and *02 were significantly more common in controls ( 0.026, 0.0012, and 0.0005, respectively) and the HLA allele *03:01 was significantly more common in HS patients ( 0.00007) after the Bonferroni correction. The haplotype was significantly more common in controls ( < 0.0005). This is the first study showing an association between HLA-class II and HS. Our results suggest that HLA-II alleles (*07, *02, *02, and *03:01) and the *07~*02~*02 haplotype could influence resistance or susceptibility to HS.