HIGHER PREVALENCE OF HLA-B12 IN PATIENTS WITH IGA NEPHROPATHY

Patients with IgA nephropathy commonly have increased serum IgA levels and increased IgA in nasal secretions. Further, this disease is known to recur in the renal allograft. This evidence suggests an as-yet-undefined immunopathogenic cause. Since the association of HLA antigens and susceptibility to certain immunopathic diseases has already been well described, the authors have studied the frequency of HLA antigen in 17 patients with IgA nephropathy. Frequencies of all antigens except HLA-12 were not significantly different in either population. The frequency of HLA-B12 was 59% in patients versus 20% in control subjects (P <0.001; corrected P <0.05). The relative risk for HLA-B12 was 5.7.