HLA in isolated REM sleep behavior disorder and Lewy body dementia

Synucleinopathies-related disorders such as Lewy body dementia (LBD) and isolated/idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) have been associated with neuroinflammation. In this study, we examined whether the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) locus plays a role in iRBD and LBD. In iRBD, HLA-DRB1*11:01 was the only allele passing FDR correction (OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.27–1.93, p = 2.70e-05). We also discovered associations between iRBD and HLA-DRB1 70D (OR = 1.26, 95%CI = 1.12–1.41, p = 8.76e-05), 70Q (OR = 0.81, 95%CI = 0.72–0.91, p = 3.65e-04) and 71R (OR = 1.21, 95%CI = 1.08–1.35, p = 1.35e-03). Position 71 (pomnibus = 0.00102) and 70 (pomnibus = 0.00125) were associated with iRBD. Our results suggest that the HLA locus may have different roles across synucleinopathies.