A significant increase in the frequencies of DRB1(∗)07 (Pc<0.01, OR=3.44, CI: 2.15-5.52) was observed among TA patients compared with the control group.
Compared with controls, the frequencies of A*3001 (p=0.048), B*5201 (p=0.025), and DRB1*1502 (p=0.046) alleles were significantly higher in TA patients, and the frequency of A*2602 was significantly lower in TA patients when compared with controls (p=0.047).
The association of Takayasu arteritis with Amerindian and Asian HLA-DRB1 alleles (DRB1*1602 and DRB1*1001) in the Colombian mestizo patients reported here, and with HLA-B*3906 previously reported in Mexicans, suggest the possibility that some HLA and disease associations are markers for ethnicity of a population carrying a disease gene which is present in an admixed population with the disease.
Therefore, the combination or haplotype of HLA-Bw52-DRB1*1502-DRB5*0102-DQA1*0103-DQB1*0601 -DPA1*02-DPB1*0901 may confer susceptibility to Takayasu arteritis while another combination or haplotype of HLA-Bw54-DRB1*0405-DRB4*0101-DQA1*0301-DQB1++ +*0401 may confer resistance to the disease.