HLA-D in the rheumatic diseases

HLA-Dw4 was first defined in our laboratory with homozygous typing cells from a patient with rheumatoid arthritis. The antigen was found in 13% of normal white persons and in 52% of white, factor-positive patients with adult onset rheumatoid arthritis. Homozygosity for HLA-Dw4 was increased in rheumatoid arthritis but not beyond that expected from the gene frequency. Childhood rheumatoid arthritis presents clinical variants with different HLA associations. HLA-Dw4 is rare in North American Blacks and was not increased in Black patients with rheumatoid arthritis.