Background: Reports on the association between human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) and childhood minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) are variable. The association between HLA class I and MCNS has not been tested among Egyptian children.
Methods: We studied such associations in a group of steroid-responsive MCNS Egyptian children (n=37) in comparison to a group of healthy Egyptians (n=100). Typing was performed using standard lymphocytotoxicity assay.
Results: The frequency of HLA-B27 was remarkably higher among MCNS children (18.9%) compared with the control group (1%) (p<0.001, risk ratio [RR] = 3.76, 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 2.5-5.66). Additionally, MCNS children had a significantly higher frequency of HLA-A11 (16.2% vs. 3%) and HLA-B13 (13.5% vs. 2%) (p=0.012 and p=0.016; RR=2.75 and RR=2.9; 95% CI, 1.58-4.79 and 1.66-5.06; respectively). With multivariate analysis, the previous 3 loci were still significant in addition to HLA-B12 (p=0.001, p=0.005, p=0.013 and p=0.033, for HLA-B27, HLA-B13, HLA-A11 and HLA-B12, respectively). The frequency of HLA haplotypes was comparable in both groups.
Conclusions: We concluded that associations of HLA class I with childhood MCNS in Egypt have both similarities and dissimilarities to those in other populations. HLA-B27, which has not been reported before, has the strongest association. However, similar to studies from other populations, HLA-A11, HLA-B13 and HLA-B12 loci were also associated with MCNS.