Endemic HBV infection, tissue autoantibodies and HLA. Analysis of a Sardinian population.

Serum samples of 405 HLA-typed individuals from four Sardinian villages were analyzed for HB virus markers and for tissue autoantibodies. Of the 59% individuals who had been exposed to HBV, 10% were healthy carriers; they showed a weak association with the HLA-B40 specificity compared with the immune or non-exposed groups, and a negative association of DR4, limited to females. Tissue autoantibodies were significantly associated with DR1 and more weakly with B14, probably through linkage disequilibrium.