title: HLA-DP antigens and HTLV-1 antibody status among Japanese with multiple sclerosis: evidence for an increased frequency of HLA-DPw4.
abstract: Previously, an association between multiple sclerosis (MS) and HLA-DPw4 has been reported in Scandinavians. In the present study, the distribution of HLA-DP antigens was studied in 34 Japanese MS patients, all of whom fulfilled the criteria for definite MS. HLA-DP typings for DPw1 through w6 and the local specificity, CDP-HEI, were performed using the primed lymphocyte typing (PLT) technique. In addition, the patients were typed for a DR2+, Dw2+/Dw12- related, PLT defined specificity. The distribution of DPw1-w5 in 121 healthy, unrelated Japanese controls were from Nishimura et al., 1984; Nishimura, personal communication). Sera from all 34 patients and 38 controls (both from the HTLV-1 nonendemic, Kyoto region) were examined for the presence of HTLV-1 reacting antibodies by a highly sensitive radioimmuno assay (RIA) using two sources of HTLV-1 antigens, namely total crude protein preparations from disrupted HTLV-1 virions and affinity purified p24 HTLV-1 core proteins. The frequency of DPw4 was significantly increased to 35.3% in Japanese MS patients compared to 16.5% in controls (Relative Risk, RR = 2.8, p = 1.9 x 10(-2)). 41.6% of the MS patients gave clear typing responses with a PLT reagent which recognized a Dw2+ related specificity, which is higher than the frequency of Dw2 (6.8%) in Japanese. Fourteen of the 34 patient sera contrasting to none of the sera from 38 controls contained antibodies of IgG and/or IgM subclasses reacting with the HTLV-1 derived antigens. This difference is highly significant (P less than 1 x 10(-5)).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Tissue Typing Laboratory, State University Hospital (Rigshospitalet), Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Odum
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saida
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Svejgaard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D006682:HLA-DP Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D059868:HLA-DP beta-Chains; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D006682:HLA-DP Antigens; D059868:HLA-DP beta-Chains; C056284:HLA-DPw4 antigen; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies