HLA antigens in Addisonian pernicious anaemia: absence of a HLA and disease association.

An examination of HLA antigens in 72 unrelated Caucasian subjects with pernicious anaemia (PA) has revealed no significant association of any HLA-A or B genes with the disease. These data do not confirm the previous reports in the literature which had suggested an increased frequency of the B7 and/or A3 antigen among patients. In addition, the study of four families, each with two or more PA patients, does not support close linkage between disease susceptibility or autoantibody formation and the HLA locus. These data suggest that genes in or near the HLA region may not significantly affect susceptibility to PA.