[HLA and leprosy in Dakar: distribution of histocompatibility antigens in leprous patients and their relationship to ENL reactions].

50 lepromatous patients among whom 34 shared repeating ENL reactions and a reference group of 150 blood donors were typed for HLA antigens. In the comparison of the lepromatous group to the reference group, the HLA-B 8 was the only antigen which turned out to be significantly increased within the lepromatous patients. Some changes reported by other authors have also been pointed out (decrease in HLA-A2 and HLA-A3, increase in HLA-AW 23 within the lepromatous patients) but those are not significant in this study. In the lepromatous group itself, not any significant change has been pointed out between the patients sharing ENL and those who did not show any. Nevertheless a non-significant increase in HLA-BW 35 in the patients with ENL is to be pointed out.