HLA allele DRB1*01:03: the genetic link to neutralizing IL-10 antibodies in inflammatory bowel disease

In a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine , Gharahdaghi and colleagues link the HLA allele DRB1*01:03 to interleukin-10 (IL-10) neutralizing autoantibodies in a cohort of patients with in fl ammatory bowel disease (IBD). 1 A complex interplay of environmental factors, intestinal microbiota, and genetic traits underlies IBD, including ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn´s disease (CD), and IBD that cannot be classi fi ed as either UC or CD. Conceptually, it is assumed that these devastating disorders are T cell-driven, with B lymphocytes and (auto-)antibodies playing only a minor role in disease pathogenesis and progression. Moreover, in fl ammatory cytokine cascades