The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether certain HLA antigens were risk factors for developing sarcoid arthritis and whether HLA antigens appear to account for the phenotype and the resolution of the arthritis condition in an unselected nationwide cohort.
The Icelandic Sarcoidosis Study (ISS) contains all tissue-verified cases of sarcoidosis in Iceland since 1981. Of a total of 234 cases, 39 patients were identified with arthritis and of those 36 delivered a biosample for the study. The patient cohort has previously been described in detail. DNA was isolated from EDTA blood and HLA antigen typing was performed. A total of 544 Icelandic stem cell donors acted as controls.
HLA-B8 and HLA-B14 antigens were more common among those who suffered from sarcoid arthritis (24% vs. 11%, p
