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Different HLA class II associations in ulcerative colitis patients with and without primary sclerosing cholangitis

Genes & Immunity volume 8, pages 275–278 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Approximately 80% of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) of Northern European origin have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the majority ulcerative colitis (UC). An inherent problem in interpreting positive findings in genetic association studies of PSC is thus to distinguish between factors associated with hepatobiliary versus intestinal pathology. We aimed to clarify to what extent human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II associations in UC patients with and without PSC differ. High-resolution DRB1 and DQB1 typing was performed in 365 Scandinavian PSC patients, an independent cohort of 330 Norwegian UC patients and 368 healthy controls. HLA associations found in PSC were mostly distinct from those seen in UC, and no significant differences were noted between PSC patients with concurrent UC and PSC patients without IBD. This suggests different HLA associated genetic susceptibility to PSC and UC, and supports notions that UC in PSC may represent a distinct UC phenotype.

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Acknowledgements

Expert technical assistance with the HLA typing from Siri Flåm, Hege Dahlen and Linda Haugse was highly appreciated. Financial support: Dr Tom Hemming Karlsen is supported by the Norwegian Foundation for Health and Rehabilitation. The authors have no financial relationships to disclose relevant to this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Department, Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet Medical Center and University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    T H Karlsen, K M Boberg, M Vatn & E Schrumpf

  2. Institute of Immunology, Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet Medical Center and University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    T H Karlsen, E Thorsby & B A Lie

  3. Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    A Bergquist

  4. 1st Department of Medicine, Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany

    J Hampe

  5. Institute for Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany

    S Schreiber

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  1. T H Karlsen
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  2. K M Boberg
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  3. M Vatn
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  4. A Bergquist
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  5. J Hampe
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  6. E Schrumpf
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  7. E Thorsby
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  8. S Schreiber
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  9. B A Lie
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and the IBSEN study group,

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Correspondence to T H Karlsen.

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Karlsen, T., Boberg, K., Vatn, M. et al. Different HLA class II associations in ulcerative colitis patients with and without primary sclerosing cholangitis. Genes Immun 8, 275–278 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gene.6364377

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gene.6364377

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