THE JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE DERMATOLOGY was found: the analysis of the distribution of allelic frequencies between porphyric and control subjects gave a p ϭ 0.007 by two-tailed Fisher's exact test, whereas the number of mutated subjects gave a p ϭ 0.012. No significant differences were observed between the type I and II PCT subgroups for both mutations (p Ͼ 0.6). No differences were also observed between serum iron, ferritin, transferrin, and porphyrin levels or for urinary porphyrin concentrations between mutated and nonmutated (single or both mutations) PCT patients (p at least Ͼ 0.21, data not shown). This finding suggests no apparent dependence of HFE variants on iron metabolism of PCT subjects or on PCT intensity. Finally, HCV positivity was not significantly associated with the same mutations (Cys282Tyr mutation was found in three of seven HCVϩ patients, as opposed to eight of 13 for His63Asp, p ϭ 0.64).In conclusion, the group of PCT patients studied presented only a statistically significant association with a HFE Cys282Tyr mutation. This result cannot support the fact that the HFE Cys282Tyr variant may be widely involved in PCT pathogenesis, even if a possible role of this altered molecule as a PCT trigger cannot be excluded in a patients' subset.