system
Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVE, METHODS, RESULTS. Meshes: Alanine, Amino Acid Sequence, Aspartic Acid, Case-Control Studies, Chromosome Mapping, DNA, Female, Gene Amplification, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, HLA-C Antigens, Humans, Israel, Jews, Male, Molecular Sequence Data, Psoriasis.
user
Do specific pockets of HLA-C molecules predispose Jewish patients to psoriasis vulgaris? Context: Psoriasis vulgaris was reported to be associated with a specific alanine residue at position 73 of HLA-C alleles in Japanese patients. Our purpose was to determine the role of HLA genes in susceptibility to psoriasis vulgaris in the Israeli Jewish population. Twenty-eight Israeli patients were analyzed for their HLA class I and II specificities by means of serologic and molecular methods. All patients possessed in their HLA-C antigens an alanine residue at position 73 (p<0.002). A significantly increased frequency of HLA-Cw6 and of Cw7 was also observed among the patients (p<0.02).
assistant
Our study clearly shows that alanine in position 73 is significantly associated with psoriasis vulgaris in Jewish patients. Cw6 and Cw7 have a unique antigen-binding pocket containing both alanine at position 73 and a negatively charged aspartic acid at position 9. These residues are most probably important in determining the conformation of the C pocket and in turn the nature of the peptide bound to it. We suggest that this combination confers the highest risk of the development of psoriasis vulgaris.