Absence of HLA-B8 and HLA-DR3 in Japanese patients with Sjögren's syndrome positive for anti-SSA(Ro).

Forty Japanese anti-SSA(Ro) positive patients with Sjögren's syndrome were typed for HLA-A, B, C, DR and DQ antigens. No patient had either HLA-B8 or HLA-DR3 which has been reportedly associated with the immune response to SSA(Ro) antigens in white and black patients. Our patients had higher frequencies of HLA-DRw8 and HLA-DRw52 than the control population.