Objective: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disorder of the neuromuscular junction. MG has been shown to be associated with many human leukocyte antigens (HLA) in different populations. The aim of this study was to investigate the probable association between HLA-DR/DQ alleles and MG in Tunisian patients.

Methods: HLA DR/DQ genotyping was performed using polymerase chain reaction sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) with 48 MG patients and 100 healthy individuals serving as the control group.

Results: Myasthenia gravis in Tunisian patients was found to be associated with the following alleles (p(c) denotes Bonferroni corrected probability values): HLA-DRB1*03 (p(c)<10(-3)), DRB1*04 (p(c)=0.005), DQB1*02 (p(c)=0.002) and, DQB1*03 (p(c)=0.007).

Conclusions: Our data demonstrated a new HLA-MG predisposition with DRB1*04. The DRB1*03, DRB1*04, DQB1*02, and DQB1*03 alleles also could be predisposing genetic factors for MG in the Tunisian population.