HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Permissions Request Permissions Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (7) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Grunewald, J. Articles by Eklund, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Grunewald, J. Articles by Eklund, A.

Human leukocyte antigen genes may outweigh racial background when generating a specific immune response in sarcoidosis

Dept of Medicine, Division of Respiratory Medicine, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

CORRESPONDENCE: J. Grunewald, Lung Research Laboratory L2:01, Karolinska Hospital, S-171 76, Stockholm, Sweden. Fax: 46 851775451

Keywords: genetic basis of disease, human leukocyte antigen, immunology, interstitial lung disease, sarcoidosis, T-cell receptor

Received: October 4, 2000
Accepted November 13, 2000

This work was supported by the Swedish Heart Lung Foundation, the Swedish Medical Research Council (Project number 12621), and Karolinska Institutet.

Abstract

Presented is a sarcoidosis patient of African origin, who was adopted at an early age and grew up in Sweden.

This patient displayed an immune response identical to that previously reported in human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR17 positive Caucasian sarcoidosis patients in Scandinavia, with T-cell receptor AV2S3+ T-cells accumulating in the lungs. HLA typing also established that she was DR17 positive, which is a rare HLA type for individuals of African origin.

To the authors' knowledge, this specific immune response has not previously been reported in patients of African origin. Moreover, the clinical manifestations of sarcoidosis were similar to those known to be strongly linked to HLA-DR17 in Scandinavians, i.e. with Löfgren's syndrome.

The case presented here suggests certain human leukocyte antigen genes to be strongly linked to specific immune responses that are identical irrespective of the racial background. If such an immune response were important for the subsequent clinical manifestations, this case would argue for the importance of human leukocyte antigen genes in the genetic predisposition to sarcoidosis.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Grunewald and A. Eklund State of the Art. Role of CD4+ T Cells in Sarcoidosis Proceedings of the ATS, August 15, 2007; 4(5): 461 - 464. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]