Interstitial lung abnormalities (ILA) are defined as the presence of different patterns of increased lung density, including ground glass attenuation and reticular opacities on chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). In this study, we included 90 subjects with ILA and 189 healthy controls (HC) from our Aging Lung Program. We found that subjects with ILA are older, have a significant smoking history, and have worse pulmonary function than HC (p < 0.05). When we evaluated the allele frequencies of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system, we found that HLA-DRB1*07 was associated with a higher risk for ILA (p < 0.05, OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.06-3.57). When we compared subjects with subpleural ILA vs. HC, the association with HLA-DRB1*07 became stronger than the whole ILA group (p < 0.05, OR = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.24-4.25). Furthermore, subjects with subpleural ILA and central ILA display differences in allele frequencies with HLA-DRB1*14 (3.33% vs. 13.33%, p < 0.05) and *15 (3.33% vs. 20%, p < 0.05). Our findings indicate that the HLA-DRB1*07 allele contributes to the risk of ILA, especially those of subpleural locations.
Keywords: HLA DRB1*07; ILA; central ILA; subpleural ILA.