ASSOCIATION OF HLA-DR AND HLA-DQ ANTIGENS WITH CONGENITAL DISLOCATIONAND DYSPLASTIC OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE HIP JOINTS IN JAPANESE PEOPLE

Objective. To investigate the frequency of HLA-DR and DQ antigens amon g patients with congenital dislocation of the hip joint or dysplastic osteoarthritis (OA) and to determine whether tissue typing might contr ibute to better understanding of these disorders. Methods. HLA-DR and DQ typing was undertaken in 18 patients with congenital dislocation of the hip joints, 65 patients with dysplastic OA of the hip, 42 patient s with primary OA of the knee, and 40 normal controls. Typing for HLA- D antigens was performed using the standard microlymphocytotoxicity me thod. Results. The frequency of HLA-DR4 in patients with congenital di slocation of the hip joint (61.1%) and patients with dysplastic OA of the hip (58.5%) was significantly increased compared with normal contr ols (27.5%) (P(corr) < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). The relative risk for HLA-DR4 was 4.1428 and 3.7104, respectively, in these 2 disea se groups. The frequency of HLA-DR4 in the patients with primary OA of the knee (35.7%) did not differ significantly from that in normal con trols. Conclusion. The results strongly indicate that development of c ongenital dislocation of the hip joint and progression of dysplastic O A of the hip are associated with genes of the HLA-D region.