Background: The association between human leukocyte antigens (HLA) and idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) in children has been discussed in various studies.
Methods: In this study, 59 Chinese children with steroid-sensitive nephritic syndrome (SSNS) in Taiwan were enrolled, and 33 patients underwent renal biopsy.
Results: The frequency of HLA-DR11 was found to be significantly higher and HLA-DR14 was lower in SSNS patients as compared with the healthy control group. In frequent relapsers, HLA-DR4 was more frequent, while HLA-DQB1*0602 was less frequent, as compared with infrequent relapsers. However, there was no significant difference between steroid-dependent and non-steroid-dependent patients. In patients who showed a response to levamisole, the HLA-DR9 and -DQB1*0303 alleles were more frequent, while HLA-DR13 was less frequent. In a comparison of HLA in different INS pathologies, HLA-DQB1*0401 was significantly frequent in IgM nephropathy. Even though we compared each group with the control group separately, the HLA distributions of both groups still differed from each other. Our data suggest that the immunogenic characteristics of children with SSNS in Taiwan are different from those of other populations. The common motif between different HLA alleles and the three-dimensional crystal structures may offer an explanation for the varying results from different populations.
Conclusion: According to HLA typing, the results support the hypothesis that IgM nephropathy is a different entity from minimal change nephrotic syndrome.
Copyright (c) 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.