Abstract: Objective To investigate the association of HLA-DRB1,DQA1,DQB1 haplotypes with vitiligo in a Han popultion in East China.Methods Ninety-eight patients with vitiligo and 150 healthy controls were studied for HLA-DRB1,DQA1 and DQB1 alleles by PCR-sequence specific oligonucleotide probes(SSOP)typing.Then,population and pedigree analysis programs(PPAP 3.0)was used to screen and analyze haplotypes.Results The frequency of the haplotype HLA-DRB1^*09-DQA1^*03-DQB1^*0303 was signifi-cantly higher(Pc=0.02,OR=2.542)in the vitiligo patients than in the controls.Conclusions Our results suggest that a correlation exists between HLA-DRB1,DQA1,DQB1 haplotypes and vitiligo,and HLA-DRB1^*09-DQA1^*03-DQB1^*0303 may be a susceptible haplotype for vitiligo in the Han population in East China.

Key words: Vitiligo, Genes, MHC classⅡ, Haploidy