DNA typing HLA Class II genes (DRB1, DQA1, DQB1) were performed in 55 children with RF and 50 healthy unrelated controls using sequence specific primers (SSP).
No significant difference in the frequency of DRB1*16 was present between ARF vs the control group, between ARF vs PSReA, and in PSReA patients when compared with controls.
Recent studies have demonstrated an increased frequency of DRB1*01 in patients with PSReA, which contrasts with the increased frequency of DRB1*16 in rheumatic fever.
The association of poststreptococcal ReA with HLA-DRB1*01, but not with HLA-B27, suggests that its pathogenesis may be more similar to that of rheumatic fever than to that of ReA associated with enteric pathogens.