Objective: To analyze the associations of HLA-DRB1* and DQB1* Class II alleles in patients with bilateral Méniére's disease (MD).
Patients and methods: Eighty patients from two ethnically defined groups with definite bilateral MD, according to the diagnostic scale of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, were compared with normal controls from the same origin in a prospective multicenter study. We performed an allele-specific amplification for HLA-DRB1* and DQB1* genes of the major histocompatibility complex.
Results: The allele HLA-DRB1*1101 was associated with bilateral MD in the Mediterranean population (odds ratio, 3.65 [95% confidence intervals, 1.5-9.1], corrected p = 0.029); however, this allele was not associated in the group from Galicia (northwest of Spain). No differences were found in the distribution of alleles for the gene HLA-DQB1* between patients and controls.
Conclusion: The allele HLA-DRB1*1101 and the allelic group HLA-DRB1*11 may determine an increased susceptibility to develop bilateral MD in a southern European population.