TodeterminewhetherthepossessionofcertainHLA-DQA1alleleswasassociatedwiththeriskofdevelopingidiopathicdilatedcardiomyopathy(IDC)andtosubstantiatetheroleofanautoimmunologicpathogenesisinIDC.TypetheallelesofHLA-DQA1bypolymerasechainreactionwithsequence-specificprimers(PCR-SSP)techniquein38patientsofidiopathicdilatedcardiomyopathy(7womenand31men),agedfrom17to56yearsoldwithdiagnosisbeingaccordingtoWorldHealthOrganizationcriteria(IDCgroup),in50patientsofend-stageheartfailureofknownetiology(18womenand32men),withagesrangingfrom34to72(HFgroup),andinthecontrolgroupconsistingofpresumably100healthysubjects(39womenand61men)fromthehealthsurvey,agedfrom30to59yearsold.ThefrequencyofHLA-DQA1*0501intheDCMpatientswassignificantlyelevatedthanthatintheHFandthecontrolgroup.MolecularanalysisoftheDQA1genepolymorphismperformedinthethreesubgroupsshowsanincreasedfrequencyofDQA1*0501amongpatientswithlessEF.TheHFgroupcarriesahighfrequencyofHLA-DQA1*0301.AnincreasedfrequencyofDQA1*0201andDQA1*0103wasfoundinthecontrolgroup.HLA-DQA1*0501isanassociatedgeneofidiopathicdilatedcardiomyopathyandthepossessionofDQA1*0301maybeindicativeoftheknownetiologicheartfailure,suggestingthatthemechanismsinvolvedinthepathogenesisofIDCandotherwiseheartfailurearedifferent.ImmunologicabnormalitiesmaybeamajorcontributortothesusceptibilityofdevelopingofIDC.
