Frequency of D8/17 B lymphocyte alloantigen in north Indian patients with rheumatic heart disease.

Ninety patients with rheumatic heart disease and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy human volunteers representing a North Indian population were typed for the B cell alloantigen D8/17 using a monoclonal antibody and a single step immunofluorescence technique. This alloantigen was expressed in 66.44% patients with RHD as compared with 14% of the normal population. A high relative risk (RR = 11.13) indicated a strong association of D8/17 B cell alloantigen with rheumatic heart disease. Increase in the frequency of the marker was observed with increasing age up to the fifth decade (40-49 years) in these patients. However, the frequency of this alloantigen, in the present study, in North Indian patients with rheumatic heart disease is lower than that reported in the American population.