title: HLA-B27 Prevalence in Arab Populations and Among Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate prevalence of HLA-B27 among general Arab populations and among patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and to review published data.
  
  
  METHODS
  The prevalence of HLA-B27 was studied among 2579 unrelated healthy Jordanians, almost equally divided among Palestinian refugees and natives of Jordan, reflecting the general population of Jordan. The prevalence of HLA-B27 was also studied among 129 patients with AS, 70 from Jordan, and the remaining 59 from Qatar. HLA typing was performed by standard 2-stage micro-lymphocytotoxicity method. We also reviewed published English language studies of HLA-B27 in Arab patients with AS and general populations retrieved through Medline and cross-reference search.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed that the general prevalence of HLA-B27 among Jordanians is 2.4%; while the reported prevalence ranges between 2% and 5% among major Arab populations. The prevalence of HLA-B27 among patients with AS is 71% in Jordan and 73% in Qatar, while the reported prevalence from pooled published data from various Arab populations is 64%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From these data one can conclude that HLA-B27 is present in about 2% to 5% among major Arab populations and that its prevalence in Arab patients with AS is closer to 70%.
authors: The University of Jordan, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Jordan University Hospital, Queen Rania Street, PO Box 13046, Amman, 11942 Jordan. kmustafa@ju.edu.jo.
authors: Khader N
authors: KN
authors: Mustafa
authors: Mohammed
authors: M
authors: Hammoudeh
authors: Muhammad Asim
authors: MA
authors: Khan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018912:Arabs / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen / Q000235:genetics*; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D007597:Jordan / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen