The HLA Polymorphism and Susceptibility to Disease

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Abstract
Remarkable differences were observed when 1465 healthy Caucasian individuals and 128 healthy Negro individuals were compared for the genetic distribution of 25 different HLA antigens. Caucasians had a significantly higher frequency of A1, A3, B8, and Bw16, and Negroes of A28 and Aw30. The haplotype which had the highest incidence and the greatest positive linkage disequilibrium was A1-B8 among Caucasians and A2-B12 among Negroes. Genetic distance between the 2 races was 0.0592. The 89 Caucasian patients with renal failure did not demonstrate any significant deviations in phenotype frequencies (PF) of various antigens, when compared with healthy Caucasians; 48 similar Negro patients had twice as high an incidence of Bw17 as the healthy Negroes. No significant deviation in PF was observed in 77 Caucasian patients who had leukemia; 32 Caucasian patients who had back pain (24 also had back stiffness) due to spondylitic, arthritic or disc syndrome, had a significant increase of Bw16 and of B27, and a decrease of B12, when compared to Caucasian controls.