HLA DR15 (DR2) and DQB1*0602 typing studies in 188 narcoleptic patients with cataplexy

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Ann Rogers, Emory University; J. Meehan, Stanford University; C. Guilleminault, Stanford University; F. C. Grumet, Stanford University; E. Mignot, Stanford University
• Language: English
• Date: 1997-06-01
• Publisher: American Academy of Neurology (AAN)
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 1997 by the American Academy of Neurology
• Final Published Version (URL): http://www.neurology.org/content/48/6/1550.short
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Neurology
• ISSN: 0028-3878
• Volume: 48
• Issue: 6
• Start Page: 1550
• End Page: 1556
• Grant/Funding Information: Supported by the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NS23724 and NS33797 to E. Mignot).
• Keywords: MARKERS; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Science & Technology; HLA-DR2; ANTIGENS; Clinical Neurology; Neurosciences & Neurology; ASSOCIATION
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, General; Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Biology, Neuroscience

Abstract

Narcolepsy is considered a homogeneous clinical entity when excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy are present. Cataplexy is a polymerphic symptom that can be very mild and is thus subjectively defined. The Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) is widely used as a diagnostic test for narcolepsy. A short mean sleep latency and multiple sleep onset REM periods (SOREMPs) are typically observed in narcoleptic patients. The discovery of a tight association of narcolepsy with HLA class II antigens offers a unique opportunity to explore the respective value of the MSLT or of the presence of clear-cut cataplexy in defining an etiologically homogeneous group of narcoleptic patients. In this study, we carried out HLA typing for DR15(DR2) and DQB1*0602 in 188 narcoleptic patients with cataplexy in three ethnic groups (24 Asians, 61 Blacks, and 163 Caucasians). These results confirm the importance of DQB1*0602 typing rather than DR15 (DR2) typing in Black narcoleptic patients and demonstrate that the presence of clear-cut cataplexy is a better predictor for DQB1*0602 positivity than the presence of abnormal MSLT results.