| Themes > Science > Life Sciences > General Biology > Immunology > Recognition Systems in Immunity > The Major Histocompatibility Complex > Association of HLA with certain diseases |
Certain HLA alleles are found more frequently in patients with specific diseases than in the normal population. For example the group of closely related alleles collectively known as HLA-B27 is found in >90% of patients with ankylosing spondylitis but in only ~10% normal individuals. A relative risk can be calculated which expresses the increased likelihood of an individual possessing the associated allele developing the disease relative to an individual not having this allele. However, not all individuals with the at-risk allele will develop the disease and not all disease positive individuals possess the high-risk allele. In most cases diseases which show this HLA association have an obvious immune pathology. examples: B27 Ankylosing spondylitis Rel. Risk = 87.4
DR3 IDDM Rel. Risk = 5.7
See
Lecture 12 for further discussion of the genetic susceptibility to disease |
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