Of the HLA-DQB1 alleles analyzed, only the HLA-DQB1*0303 frequency was lower in patients with ILD than in the controls (6.76% vs. 19.03%, p = 0.01, pcorr NS; OR = 0.25; 95% CI: 0.07 − 0.73), implying that patients with this allele are less likely to develop the lung complication. Here, HLA-DQB1 is linked to interstitial lung disease.