Ayman Elgendy, Eslam Alshawadfy, Eman Ali, Nancy Wadea, Karem Khalil, Osama Alkady, Ahmed Elsaidi
The association of HLA antigens with vitiligo remains controversial issue. In order to determine which, if any, HLA markers were associated with an increased risk of vitiligo, we investigated HLA antigens in 50 patients with vitiligo and in 50 controls. Vitiligo patients had significant increase in HLA-A1, A19, B16, CW4, CW 6, DR 4, DR7 and DQ3 compared to controls. Familial vitiligo is marked by increased frequency of HLA-A28, B16, B27, B48, CW2 and DQ3, while non-familial vitiligo is marked by increased frequency of HLA-A1, CW6 and DR13. These findings suggest that immunogenetic mechanism may be responsible for vitiligo. Also there may be heterogeneity in the pathogenic process between familial and nonfamilial vitiligo.
