Juvenile-onset diabetes HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DR alloantigens.

We studied the distribution of HLA-A, -B, and -C antigens in 94 juvenile-onset diabetic patients and of HLA-DR antigens in 62 of these patients. The frequencies for HLA-B15, -B40, and -Cw3 were significantly increased in the patient group as compared with the control group. With respect to the B-cell specificities, DRw4 was significantly increased in the patients. Analysis of the data to detect the possible presence of primary and secondary associations between HLA alleles and diabetogenic gene(s) indicated that DRw4 possessed a primary association with the diabetogenic gene(s). As a result, B15, B40, and Cw3 possessed secondary associations.