Recent Advances in Genetic Predisposition of Myasthenia Gravis

Table 1

HLA alleles associated with MG in distinct subgroups of the disease and various ethnic populations.

MG subgroup	HLA locus	HLA allele or serological type	Ethnic group or descent	Number of cases	𝑃 value	Reference
Thymoma-related MG
—	HLA-A	A*25	French	78	2.6×10^−3	[23]
B2 type of thymoma	HLA-A	A*02^#	French	27	4.13×10^−4	[23]
—	HLA-DQA1	DQA1*0401	Northern Chinese	41	1.1×10^−2	[24]
—	HLA-DQB1	DQB1*0604	Northern Chinese	41	1×10^−3	[24]
Nonthymomatous MG
Thymus hyperplasia	HLA-DRB1	DR3; DR7^#	Caucasian	192	<1 ×10^−6; <1 ×10^−6	[9]
Thymus hyperplasia	HLA-DRB1	DR16	Caucasian	192	1.1×10^−5	[9]
Thymus hyperplasia	HLA-DRB1	DR9	Caucasian	192	2×10^−3	[9]
ATA (+) with no thymic abnormalities	HLA-DRB1	DR7	Caucasian	59	1×10^−2b	[9]
ATA (−) with no thymic abnormalities	HLA-DRB1	DR3	Caucasian	60	2×10^−4b	[9]
—	HLA-C	C*0701	Swedish	438	1.02×10^−3	[25]
LOMG > 60 years	HLA-DRB1	DRB1*15 : 01	Norwegian	99	7.6×10^−5a	[26]
EOMG < 40 years	HLA-B	B*08	Norwegian	154	2.5×10^−13a	[26]
EOMG &; MG with onset 41–59 years & LOMG	HLA-DRB1	DRB1*13 : 01^#	Norwegian	339	4.71×10^−4a	[26]
EOMG	HLA-DRB1	DRB1*08^#; DRB1*09	Northern Han Chinese	52	7×10^−3; 3.3×10^−2	[27]
LOMG	HLA-DRB1	DRB1*07	Northern Han Chinese	39	3×10^−2	[27]
Ocular MG	HLA-DRB1	DRB1*09; DRB1*12^#	Northern Han Chinese	34	5.35×10^−5; 2×10^−2	[27]
AChR (+)	HLA-DRB1	DRB1*08^#	Northern Han Chinese	44	2×10^−2	[27]
AChR (−)	HLA-DRB1	DRB1*09	Northern Han Chinese	30	2×10^−3	[27]
—	HLA-B	B*08	Saudi	109	3.4×10^−4a	[28]
—	HLA-B	B*50^#	Saudi	109	3.4×10^−3a	[28]
—	HLA-DQA1	DQA1*0101/2	Iranian	104	—	[29]
—	HLA-DQB1	DQB1*0502	Iranian	104	—	[29]
Generalized EOMG	HLA-DRB1 & HLA-DQB1	DRB1*03; DQB1*02	Tunisian	30	<10^−3a; <10^−3a	[30]
Generalized LOMG	HLA-DRB1 & HLA-DQB1	DRB1*04; DQB1*0302	Tunisian	18	1.3×10^−3a; <10 −3a	[30]
Generalized MG/male patients	HLA-DRB1 & HLA-DQB1	DRB1*03; DQB1*02	Tunisian	26	<10 −3a; <10 −3a	[30]
Generalized MG/female patients	HLA-DRB1 & HLA-DQB1	DRB1*04; DQB1*0302	Tunisian	22	<10^−3a; 1.6×10^−3a	[30]
EOMG with thymus hyperplasia	HLA-B	B*08	North European	649	2.87×10^−113a	[19]
EOMG with thymus hyperplasia	HLA-DRB1	DRB1*07^#	North European	649	3.2×10^−8a	[19]
EOMG with thymus hyperplasia	HLA-DRB1	DRB1*16	North European	649	1.3×10^−11a	[19]
MuSK-MG
—	HLA-DRB1 & HLA-DQB1	DR14-DQ5 haplotype	Dutch	23	4.9×10^−5a	[31]
—	HLA-DQB1	DQB1*0502	Italian	37	7.3×10^−6a	[32]
	HLA-DRB1	DRB1*16	Italian	37	2.3×10^−9a	[32]

#Negative association implying a protective role of the specific allele in MG.
^aAdjusted according to Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons.
^b𝑃 value calculation was based on the comparison between ATA (+) and ATA (−) MG patients.