Immunogenetic factors in inflammatory eye disease. influence of hla–b27 and alpha1-antitrypsin phenotypes on disease expression

✍ Scribed by Denis Wakefield; Samuel N. Breit; Peggy Clark; Ronald Penny

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1982
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 400 KB
• Volume: 25
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/art.1780251207

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The relationship between the nature and severity of inflammatory eye disease was analyzed with respect to HLA antigens and alpha~1~‐antitrypsin phenotypes. Using standard ophthalmologic criteria, we divided patients with anterior uveitis into acute, chronic (>3‐month duration), bilateral, or recurrent disease. There was a significantly increased incidence of alpha~1~‐antitrypsin–deficient phenotypes in anterior uveitis, especially in those patients with severe (chronic, bilateral, or recurrent) disease. HLA–B27 acts as an independent predisposing factor: it was present in 22% of patients with their first attack of acute uveitis compared with 51% of patients with recurrent disease. Together, these genetic factors are present in 63% of patients with severe anterior uveitis and represent the most significant predisposing and prognostic factors so far detected.