Evidence for an inherited predisposition to alcoholic pancreatitis. A controlled HLA typing study.

To investigate the role of heredity in alcoholic pancreatitis, an HLA typing study has been performed. Patients with alcoholic pancreatitis exhibited an increased frequency of HLA Bw 39 when compared with the general population [13.6% vs 3.3%, P (corrected) less than 0.02; relative risk 4.7]. Alcoholics without pancreatitis did not differ from the general population with respect to HLA status, indicating that the increased incidence of HLA Bw 39 was related to alcoholic pancreatitis rather than to alcoholism itself. Thus, this study has provided evidence for a genetic predisposition to alcoholic pancreatitis.