HUMAN LEUKOCYTE ANTIGEN POLYMORPHISMS IN ITALIAN PRIMARY BILIARY CIRRHOSIS: A MULTICENTER STUDY OF 664 PATIENTS AND 1992 HEALTHY CONTROLS

Genetic factors are critical in determining susceptibility to primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), but there has not been a clear association with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes. We performed a multicenter case-control study and analyzed HLA class II DRB1 associations using a large cohort of 664 well-defined cases of PBC and 1992 controls of Italian ancestry. Importantly, healthy controls were rigorously matched not only by age and sex, but also for the geographical origin of the proband four grandparents (Northern, Central, and Southern Italy). After correction for multiple testing, DRB1*08 [odds ratio (OR), 3.3; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.4-4.5] and DRB1*02 (OR 0.9; 95% CI 0.8-1.2) …