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1From the Ocular Inflammatory Disease Center, Jules Stein Eye Institute and 2Departments of Ophthalmology and 3Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UCLA Immunogenetics Center, University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California; the 4Casey Eye Institute and 5Department of Ophthalmology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon; the 6Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Service, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and the 7Uveitis Referral Service, Southern California Permanente Medical Group, Orange County, California.
| Abstract |
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METHODS. Eighteen patients who had TINU syndrome were evaluated at three institutions. Typing of class I and II genes was performed by using DNA-based techniques.
RESULTS. Significant associations were found with HLA-B14 (6/18 patients, 33.3%; control subjects, 5.5%; P = 0.0003; relative risk [RR] = 8.5), HLA-DQA1*01 (17/18 patients, 94.4%; control subjects, 46.6%, P = 0.0001; RR = 19.5), HLA-DQA1*0101 (14/18 patients, 77.8%; control subjects 22.2%; P < 0.0001; RR = 12.2), HLA-DQB1*05 (14/18 patients, 77.8%; control subjects 17.7%; P < 0.0001; RR = 16.3), HLA-DQB1*0501 (13/18 patients, 72.2%; control subjects 12.9%; P < 0.0001; RR = 17.6), HLA-DRB1*01 (14/18 patients, 77.8%; control subjects, 12.1%; P < 0.0001; RR = 25.5), and HLA-DRB1*0102 (13/18 patients, 72.2%; control subjects, 1.6%; P < 0.0001, RR = 167.1). The HLA haplotype most frequently identified in the study patients was HLA-DQA1*01/DQB1*05/DRB1*01 (13/18 patients, 72.2%).
CONCLUSIONS. TINU syndrome is strongly associated with HLA-DQA1*01, HLA-DQB1*05, and HLA-DRB1*01. The association with HLA-DRB1*0102 is one of the highest reported for any disease. Because these genes are in linkage disequilibrium, the role of the individual alleles is difficult to assess. Based on the results of the present study and on previously reported HLA associations in patients with TINU syndrome, the
ß dimer encoded by HLA-DQA1*01/DQB1*05 may be particularly important in conferring risk for development of this disease.
Both cell-mediated immune responses and autoantibody production1 3 have been implicated in the pathogenesis of TINU syndrome, and putative autoantigens, although not well defined, have been identified.3 Thus, TINU syndrome may be the result of an autoimmune process. Several investigators have reported human leukocyte antigen (HLA) phenotypes in patients with TINU syndrome.1 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Each report was limited to five or fewer patients, and these studies were performed during a period of 20 years, using different techniques to determine HLA phenotypes, making it impossible to determine the relative risks for any HLA antigen. We examined the HLA-A, -B, -DRB1, -DQA1, and -DQB1 gene frequencies in 18 patients who had TINU syndrome treated at three institutions to determine whether associations with TINU syndrome could be demonstrated.
| Methods |
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All patients met the diagnostic criteria for TINU syndrome described by Mandeville et al.1 The diagnosis of TINU syndrome requires the documentation of AIN and uveitis, without evidence of other systemic disease or infection that could cause both renal and ocular inflammation. Study participants were further classified as having definite, probable, or possible TINU syndrome. The classification was based on the strength of the diagnosis of AIN and the nature of the uveitis, as described in detail elsewhere.1 Briefly, the diagnosis was considered "definite" if there was either histologic evidence of AIN on renal biopsy or strong clinical evidence for the diagnosis of AIN (complete clinical criteria comprised three components: abnormal renal function, abnormal urinalysis results, and typical systemic findings, all of which are consistent with AIN), as well as typical uveitis (defined as bilateral anterior uveitis, with or without other signs of ocular inflammation). The diagnosis was considered "probable" if complete clinical criteria or histologic evidence for AIN was established, but the uveitis was atypical, or if there was typical uveitis without histologic confirmation of AIN and there were fewer than three components of the complete clinical criteria for diagnosis of AIN. For patients who had received a diagnosis of AIN from their medical consultants, the presence of any documented laboratory abnormality that is consistent with AIN, in the absence of other diseases that account for the abnormality, was considered to be sufficient for the classification of probable TINU syndrome. The diagnosis was considered "possible" if the uveitis was atypical without histologic confirmation of AIN and there were fewer than three components of the complete clinical criteria for the diagnosis of AIN. Individuals in whom the uveitis developed more than 1 month before, or 12 months after, the renal disease were classified as having "possible" TINU syndrome.
To confirm that patients met the criteria for diagnosis, they were reexamined and their medical records reviewed. No additional diagnostic testing was performed. Demographic and historical information was obtained to allow comparison of study patients to patients with TINU syndrome described in the medical literature.1 The following information was obtained regarding demographics: age at onset of TINU syndrome, gender, and race; regarding renal disease: date of onset of systemic signs and symptoms of AIN, results of tests and procedures used to diagnose AIN, and treatment and course of the renal disease; and regarding uveitis: date of onset of uveitis, classification (anterior, intermediate, posterior or panuveitis), other inflammatory signs (vitreous inflammatory reaction, papillitis), laterality (unilateral, bilateral), and course of uveitis (single episode, recurrent, or chronic uveitis).
All HLA typing in patients was performed at the UCLA Immunogenetics Center. DNA was isolated from peripheral blood leukocytes using a commercial extraction method (Qiagen, Inc., Valencia, CA) and typed for HLA class I and II gene polymorphisms, by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by hybridization with sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes, as published elsewhere.15 Oligonucleotide probes for typing the HLA-A, -B, -DQB, and -DRB loci were obtained from Dynal Biotech, Ltd., Wirral, UK). HLA-DRB*01 alleles were further characterized at the allele level, by using sequence-specific primers (SSPs; One Lambda, Canoga Park, CA) and in some cases were confirmed by sequence-based typing (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Inc., Piscataway, NJ). Allele level typing of HLA-DQA1 was performed by SSP using reagents from GenoVision, Inc. (West Chester, PA).
Statistical evaluation of the results was performed by contingency table analysis. Relative risk (RR) was estimated from the odds ratio. Probabilities were determined by the Fisher exact test. Because of nine multiple comparisons, P < 0.005 was chosen as the threshold for statistical significance. Because 17 of 18 patients were white (one patient was African American, patient 4), published rates of specific HLA alleles for North American whites were used as the control.16 A
2 analysis was used to compare the characteristics of the study group with the data from previously published individuals with TINU syndrome.1
| Results |
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| Discussion |
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It is intriguing that all 13 of our patients classified as having definite TINU syndrome had HLA-DQA*01, and 11 had HLA-DQA1*01/DQB1*05/DRB1*01. All our patients met diagnostic criteria for TINU syndrome, however, and because this was a retrospective study, the classification of an individual as having probable, possible, or definite TINU syndrome may reflect the data available rather than true differences in the disease between patients.
The DQ molecules encoded by HLA-DQA1*01 and HLA-DQB1*05 alleles appear to be particularly important in TINU syndrome. The presence of HLA-DQA1*01 in all but one patient in our series is remarkable. The one patient (patient 18) who did not have DQA1*01 was atypical in that he was an older man classified as having possible TINU, and who may have had mild chronic renal insufficiency, which is uncommon in TINU syndrome.1 Previous reports of HLA phenotypes in patients with TINU syndrome also suggest that it is associated primarily with the HLA-DQ alleles we found in our patients.4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 HLA-DQ5 is a subtype of HLA-DQ1, as determined by serologic techniques, and HLA-DQ1 or HLA-DQ5 was found in seven of nine individuals with TINU syndrome for whom HLA-DQ testing was reported.5 6 10 11 Furthermore, HLA-DQ5 is strongly linked to HLA-DR1 and DR10 and weakly to DR12, DR14(6), and DR2.18 HLA-DR types that are linked to HLA-DQ5 were found in 8 of 12 patients for whom HLA-DR, but not HLA-DQ, phenotypes were examined in previous reports.4 7 8 9 12 13 14 In a recent report from Spain of three patients with TINU syndrome, two were found to have the HLA-DR14(6) phenotype, but all three had the HLA-DQ5 phenotype.6 Only patient 15 in the present study had HLA-DRB1*14. This individual also had HLA-DQA1*01 and -DQB1*05.
HLA-DRB1*01 alleles may also play a role in the pathogenesis of TINU syndrome. Patient 10 had HLA-DRB1*0102 and -DQB1*06 rather than -DQB1*05. Perhaps more important, linkage disequilibrium between HLA-DRB1*01 and -DQB1*05 would not explain the high frequency of HLA-DRB1*0102 in our patients, with a relative risk of 167.1. On the other hand, the relative risk for HLA-DRB1*0102 in our patients was based on calculations using the low incidence of this allele in the published control population. Determination of the frequencies of specific class II alleles using PCR techniques is an evolving field, and the HLA-DRB1*0102 allele may be more common than previously appreciated.19
When evaluating class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) haplotypes in disease pathogenesis, it is important to consider that the MHC on chromosome 6 contains an abundance of genes that encode products critical to the immune response. For example, HLA-B51 may be linked to other susceptibility genes on chromosome 6 in patients with Behçet disease.20 Few of these genes are highly polymorphic, and the strong association of the specific HLA alleles with TINU syndrome that we have found argues against the likelihood of other, non-HLAlinked genes being more important in the pathogenesis of TINU syndrome. It is possible, however, that the HLA-DQA1/DQB5/DR1 haplotype is in linkage disequilibrium with genes on chromosome 6 that may be related to disease pathogenesis.
HLA-B14 was also found to be associated with TINU syndrome in our patients, but this gene is in linkage disequilibrium with HLA-DR1, and most likely is not independently associated with TINU syndrome. The HLA-DQB1*06 phenotype was found less often in patients with TINU than in control subjects, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. The data do not allow us to reach any conclusions about possible failure of protection by HLA alleles.
There were significant differences between our patients and patients in the literature in demographics and disease characteristics (Table 1) .1 Whether our patients represent a unique subset of patients or whether the differences reflect a reporting bias is not clear. Many reports of individuals with TINU syndrome have been limited by short follow-up times. The true frequency of chronic uveitis in TINU syndrome may be higher than previously reported.1 21 Nonetheless, the recruitment of study participants from the referral practices of uveitis specialists may have caused a selection bias that resulted in a subset of patients with chronic uveitis. Although unlikely, it is possible that the association of TINU syndrome with specific HLA alleles found in this report reflects an association with a subpopulation of patients.
It would be helpful to know whether the HLA alleles that were associated with TINU syndrome in our study group increase the risk of development of either chronic uveitis or AIN independently, to evaluate more precisely the role of HLA alleles in the pathogenesis of disease presentations. We found no reports examining HLA associations with either idiopathic chronic uveitis without AIN, or AIN without uveitis (PubMed search of the National Library of Medicine database). Other ocular inflammatory diseases characterized by chronic anterior uveitis that have shown class II MHC associations include Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease22 23 24 and uveitis associated with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.25 VKH disease may be of particular relevance, as there is a report of TINU syndrome developing in an individual whose father had VKH disease,26 and there is an association of HLA-DR1 with VKH disease in some populations.23 It is possible that genes not shared by the father and son played a role in determining the different clinical manifestations of their putative autoimmune processes. Nevertheless, the immunopathogenesis of disease is likely to be complex. There is a report of monozygotic twins in which one sibling had AIN without uveitis and the other sibling had TINU syndrome,4 implying that the same genotype in two individuals may result in different disease presentations, perhaps depending on the nature of the environmental triggers. Further studies to examine the relationship of specific HLA alleles and disease phenotypes in individuals with idiopathic chronic anterior uveitis, AIN, and other populations with TINU syndrome may help clarify the role of HLA molecules.
In conclusion, HLA-DQA1*01, -DQB1*05, and -DRB1*01 are strongly associated with TINU syndrome. It is likely that the HLA-DQA1*01/DQB1*05 heterodimer is particularly important, but the HLA-DRB1*01 allele or other genes in linkage disequilibrium with the DQA1*01/DQB1*05/DRB1*01 haplotype may contribute to the risk of development of the disease as well. A better understanding of the role of HLA molecules in TINU syndrome may give insight into the immunopathogenesis of uveitis and AIN, as well as other forms of autoimmunity, leading to the design of preventative strategies and safer novel therapies.
| Acknowledgements |
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| Footnotes |
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Submitted for publication April 15, 2002; revised July 31, 2002; accepted August 19, 2002.
Commercial relationships policy: N.
The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C.
1734 solely to indicate this fact.
Corresponding author: Ralph D. Levinson, Jules Stein Eye Institute, 100 Stein Plaza, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7002; levinson{at}jsei.ucla.edu.
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