Strong association of MuSK antibody-positive myasthenia gravis and HLA-DR14-DQ5.
Niks EH., Kuks JBM., Roep BO., Haasnoot GW., Verduijn W., Ballieux BEPB., De Baets MH., Vincent A., Verschuuren JJGM.
The authors studied the HLA profile of 23 white Dutch patients with muscle-specific kinase antibody-positive myasthenia gravis (MuSK Ab+ MG) and found an association with HLA-DR14-DQ5 (odds ratio 8.5; 95% CI 3.9 to 18.7; p = 4.9 x 10(-5)). Fifty-two percent of the patients carried the DR14 allele compared with 5% of the controls (p = 1.0 x 10(-8)). This association between MuSK Ab+ MG and a relatively rare HLA haplotype differs from the previously described association of early-onset acetylcholine receptor Ab+ MG with HLA-B8-DR3.