GENE AND HAPLOTYPE FREQUENCIES OF HLA ANTIGENS IN 269 PATIENTS WITH CROHNS-DISEASE

Evidence of strong genetic markers in Crohn's disease (CD) is still absent. Many investigations have focused on HLA antigens, with conflicting results. To obtain more detailed information on the relation of HLA to the disease, we used the HLA data from 269 CD patients to compute the maximum-likelihood estimates of HLA gene and haplotype frequencies. These results provide further evidence that HLA B44 and Cw5 do indeed play a role in the development of CD. Furthermore, it is conceivable from our results that HLA Cw7 may protect against being affected with this disease. © 1990 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or part not permitted.