HLA antigens in diabetics of African descent in Trinidad - abstract

ABSTRACT

The pattern of HLA distribution was studied in one hundred and fifteen Trinidadian diabetics of African ancestry. Insulin-dependent diabetes (IDDM) patients showed a positive association with HLA - A11 and B5 antigens (p<0.05) with relative risks of 5.9 and 3.2 respectively. In addition, HLA -B8 showed a positive but not statistically significant deviation, while HLA - B12 showed a negative association (relative risk 0.27). There was no association found between HLA -B15 and IDDM. Maturity-onset diabetics (MODM) showed positive association with HLA - B5 (p <0.025 and relative risk 2.93), and a significant negative association with HLA - A2, A3 and A9. In most populations, strong associations may be found between certain HLA antigens and IDDM, the associations" varying depending on the ethnicity of the population. Interestingly, no association has been observed between HLA antigens and MODM in Caucasian populations. However, several workers have observed significant deviations of HLA antigens in indigenous African MODM patients. In addition, the inconsistency of HLA antigen associations with IDDM in persons of African ancestry compared to that in Caucasians has led to the suggestion that diabetes mellitus in native Africans is genetically different from that in Caucasians. Our findings would tend to support this view (AU)