HLA antigens and infantile psoriasis.

The frequency distribution of HLA-A, -B, -C and -DR antigens in a group of 52 unrelated psoriatic patients, aged from 0 to 12 years, selected according the following four clinical subsets: guttate, inverted, follicular and minimal, was evaluated. A statistical analysis on 85 infantile psoriatic patients, randomly selected, and divided into two groups according to the age of onset of the disease, was also performed. The results show an increase of HLA-B27 antigen in the minimal psoriasis, A2 in the guttate form and of B41 allele in the inverted psoriasis. A significantly prevalence of CW6 antigen either in follicular subset or in total psoriatic patients or in both groups of age was observed, showing a strict association with the disease. An increase of HLA-B17, CW6 and DR6 in the total psoriatic patients was also noticed. The authors underline the prognostic value of this analysis.