HLA antigens in Japanese patients with diabetes mellitus.

Lymphocytes of 84 Japanese patients with diabetes mellitus and 150 normal controls were tested for HLA antigens by the microcytotoxicity test. HLA-B12 was found in 37.5 per cent of 32 patients with juvenile-onset diabetes mellitus, 13.5 per cent of 52 patients with late-onset diabetes, and 9.3 per cent of 150 normal controls. In the insulin-dependent juvenile form, HLA-B12 was associated with the disease more frequently and at a significant level (p less than 0.0005). In Japanese patients with juvenile-onset insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus the association is with HLA-B12, not with HLA-B8 and BW15, as in Caucasian patients. There was no significant increase of HLA-B12 in patients with insulin-indpendent diabetes mellitus.