HLA-DQ and Susceptibility to Celiac Disease: Evidence for Gender Differences and Parent-of-Origin Effects

Abstract

CD is confirmed to be more prevalent in female than in male (F:M = 1.8) but, in DQ2/DQ8 negative patients, we found an unexpected male excess (F:M = 0.7). Moreover, only the inheritance of a paternal DQ2 haplotype led to a daughters predominance. These data show a role of HLA genes on the disease sex bias and suggest a possible different effect of parent-specific epigenetic modifications in the two genders.