Human leukocyte antigens class I and II in patients with idiopathic granulomatous mastitis

Background: To determine the distribution of human leukocyte antigens (HLA) in patients with idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM). Methods: The study included 48 patients diagnosed with IGM and 50 controls consisting of healthy donor candidates. Results: The frequencies of HLA-A*10, HLA-A*2403, HLA-B*18 and HLA-DR*17 antigens were significantly higher in the patient group than control group (p = 0.012, p = 0.012, p = 0.0001 and p = 0.005, respectively). However, the frequencies of HLA-A*29, HLA-B*14 and HLA-DR*1 were lower in the patient group than control group (p = 0.027, p = 0.013 and p = 0.015, respectively). When patients without/with relapse were compared, there was a significant difference in HLA-A*3 (p = 0.048) and HLA-A*32 (p = 0.011). Also, the patients with relapse and control group were compared in respects of HLA-A*10 (p = 0.0006), HLA-A*24 (p = 0.035), HLA-A*32 (p = 0.011), HLA-B*18 (p = 0.035), HLA-B*103 (p = 0.035) and HLA-DR*17 (p = 0.006). Conclusion: These findings may help to explain etiopathogenesis but still, further studies on this subject with more patients in different geographic regions are needed.