Immunogenetic Analysis of Stromal Herpetic Keratitis

Almost everyone has experienced subclinical herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection by adulthood, however, only a limited number of individuals develop recurring stromal herpetic keratitis (SHK). It has been believed that the immune mechanisms participate in the etiology of SHK. The clinicoepidemiological characterization of SHK suggests that the sensitivity to HSV antigen in the cornea might vary among individuals. To clarify the etiological factor(s) in SHK, we investigated immunological background of the SHK patients based on their immunogenetic features. Immunogenetic background of the SHK patients and healthy control population was determined by HLA alleletypes using peripheral blood lymphocytes. Frequency of HLA-B*5 1 and -DRBI * 1405 in the SHK group were significantly increased as compared with those in the control group. The frequency of HLA-A*31, -A*33, -B*40 and HLA-DQB1*05031 seemed to be increased in the SHK group, though statistically not significant. Increased frequency of HLA-DRB1*1405 and HLA-DQB1*05031 among SHK patients seemed to result from the haplotype linkage with HLA-B*40. The clinicoepidemiological features of SHK were characterized by specific HLA class I alleles (HLA-A*31, -A*33, -B*40 and HLA-B*51), suggesting that the antigen tide specific immune mechanism mediated by CD8^+ T lymphocytes might participate in the etiology of SHK.

実質型角膜ヘルペス

HLA

アリルタイピング