HLA-G Polymorphisms Are Associated with Non-Segmental Vitiligo among Brazilians

oleh: Luciana Veiga-Castelli, Maria Luiza de Oliveira, Alison Pereira, Guilherme Debortoli, Letícia Marcorin, Nádia Fracasso, Guilherme Silva, Andreia Souza, Juliana Massaro, Aguinaldo Luiz Simões, Audrey Sabbagh, Renata Cardili, Eduardo Donadi, Erick Castelli, Celso Mendes-Junior

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2019-09-01

Deskripsi

(1) Background: Vitiligo is characterized by white patches on the skin caused by loss of melanocyte activity or the absence of these cells. The available treatments minimize the symptoms by retarding the process of skin depigmentation or re-pigmenting the affected regions. New studies are required for a better comprehension of the mechanisms that trigger the disease and for the development of more efficient treatments. Studies have suggested an autoimmune feature for vitiligo, based on the occurrence of other autoimmune diseases in vitiligo patients and their relatives, and on the involvement of genes related to the immune response. (2) Methods: We evaluated, by massive parallel sequencing, polymorphisms of the <i>HLA-G</i> gene in vitiligo patients and control samples, to verify if variants of this gene could influence the susceptibility to vitiligo. (3) Results: We detected an association with non-segmental vitiligo regarding the haplotype Distal-010101a/G*01:01:01:01/UTR-1, adjusting for population stratification by using ancestry-informative markers (AIMs). (4) Conclusions: It remains unclear whether the <i>HLA-G</i> variants associated with vitiligo were detected because of the high linkage disequilibrium (LD) with HLA-A*02, or if the <i>HLA-A</i> variants previously reported as associated with vitiligo were detected because of the high LD with HLA-G*01:01:01:01/UTR-1, or if both genes jointly contribute to vitiligo susceptibility.