HLA and IgA Nephritis Revisited 10 Years Later: HLA-B35 Antigen as a Prognostic Factor

Abstract

To the Editor: In 1978 in the Journal, we reported that the frequency of HLA-B35 antigen was increased among 43 patients with idiopathic mesangial IgA glomerulonephritis, as compared with 105 local controls.¹ We are now following 282 patients with this disease, the diagnosis of which has been established by renal biopsy. Of these, 259 (92 percent) have been typed for HLA-A and -B antigens and 185 (66 percent) for HLA-DR antigens, and have been compared respectively with 164 and 124 local controls. The frequency of HLA-B35 antigen was significantly increased: 24 percent (61 of 259 patients), as compared with . . .