Objective: To identify possible factors in the development of acute anterior uveitis (AUU) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).
Methods: We investigated HLA antigens serologically, and HLA-DRB1*08 alleles by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism, in 42 Japanese AS patients with and without AAU.
Results: Thirty-six of the AS patients (85.7%) had HLA-B27. Thirteen (65%) of the 20 patients with AAU had HLA-DR8, whereas only 1 (4.5%) of the 22 patients without AAU had DR8. The difference was statistically significant (Pcorr < 0.001).
Conclusion: Our data suggest that HLA-B27 is strongly associated with AS in Japanese patients and that HLA-DR8 is important for the development of AAU in Japanese patients with AS.