The histocompatibility antigens in patients with Behçet's disease.

Twenty-one patients with Behçet's disease were typed for HLA antigens. The controls were 50 subjects randomly chosen from a local population and 24 apparently healthy subjects of the same ethnic groupings as those of the patients. The study revealed significant differences in the frequencies of various antigens in the above three groups, the most obvious of them related to HLA-B5 and HLA-Bw35, HLA-B5 was demonstrated in 71% of the patients as compared with 18% in the local population group and 12.5% in the ethnically related healthy subjects. The incidences of HLA-Bw35 were 66.7%, 32% and 37.5% respectively. In 86% of the patients, at least one of these two antigens was present. It is suggested that besides contributing to the understanding of the disease process, the determining of associated specific antigens may constitute a further diagnostic acid in doubtful cases of Behçet's disease.