The HLA-B*08 allele (12.9% in the controls), previously described associated with early onset adult MG, was most frequently observed in postpubertal onset MG (40.4%, P = 0.0002) but also increased among prepubertal onset MG (23.5%, P = 0.05).
Sequential removal of human leukocyte antigen B (HLA-B) alleles when relative predispositional effects (RPEs) were looked for demonstrated that B*08 is the allele group with the largest contribution in the overall MG patients followed by B*39 and B*40.
We have mapped susceptibility genes for HIV, IDDM and myasthenia gravis to the central MHC between HLA-B and the tumour necrosis factor or complement genes.
Since DQB1*03 and DPB1*0201 are not in linkage disequilibrium, both these alleles are supposed to be synergistically involved in disease development in early-onset female MG.
These results indicate that both the DPB1*0201 allele and DR53 play key roles in the disease process of MG in early-onset females, and that the genetic background of Japanese females with early-onset MG is different from that of other patients with MG.
Abnormalities of apoptosis and Fas gene expression of MG patients' thymocytes, and Fas gene mutation may be related to the pathogenesis and progression of MG.
The meta-analysis showed that HLA DQB1*05, DRB1*14 and DRB1*16 were strongly associated with an increased risk of MuSK-MG (P < .0001), whereas HLA DQB*03 was less frequent in MuSK patients compared with healthy controls (P < .05).