title: HLA-A, B, DR, and DQ antigens in black patients with severe chronic rheumatic heart disease.
abstract: To determine whether genetic factors could be involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatic heart disease, we performed HLA-A and HLA-B typing in 120 black patients with severe chronic rheumatic heart disease requiring cardiac surgery, and HLA-DR and HLA-DQ typing in 103 and 97 of these patients, respectively. The HLA typing was done by a standard microlymphocytotoxicity method. Patients were 12 to 60 years old (mean 27.6 +/- 14.5). No differences in HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-DQ frequencies between patients and controls were noted. HLA-DR 1 antigen was present in 12.6% of patients compared with 2.7% of normal control subjects (corrected p less than .045; relative risk = 5.2) and the HLA-DRw6 antigen was present in 31.1% of patients compared with 15% of control subjects (corrected p less than .045; relative risk = 2.6). These findings suggest that genetically determined immune-response factors may play a role in the pathogenesis of severe chronic rheumatic heart disease.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D006681:HLA-D Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012214:Rheumatic Heart Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D013019:South Africa
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D006681:HLA-D Antigens; D006683:HLA-DQ Antigens; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens