HLA frequencies, diabetes mellitus and autoimmunity in Turner's patients and their relatives.

In a preliminary study of twenty-three patients with gonadal dysgenesis (Turner's syndrome) and their families, correlation was sought between their serum defined HLA allele frequencies and their known tendencies toward abnormal immune responses and diabetes mellitus, since individuals with the latter disorders have been shown to have an increased frequency of certain HLA types. We were unable to demonstrate an association between these major serum-defined histocompatibility antigens, immune homeostasis disturbances and sex chromosome aneuploidy in this group. It is felt, however, that testing involving the patterns of HLA-D and "HLA-D related" antigen frequencies should be obtained to further evaluate the possibility of such an association.