Evidence for linkage between the caprine leucocyte antigen (CLA) system and susceptibility to CAE virus-induced arthritis in goats.

The distribution of caprine leucocyte antigens (CLA) in goats from four different breeds (n = 546) affected by caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV)-induced arthritis were determined and compared breed for breed with those of infected but clinically healthy controls (n = 402). Differences in frequencies of some of the CLA specificities between the affected and control groups were found, but after correction of the ordinary P values for number of observed alleles, only the CLA Be7 specificity in the Saanen breed showed a significant deviation at the 0.05 probability level. Animals of the Saanen breed carrying this specificity are less prone to develop arthritis after CAE virus infection than goats lacking this specificity. Eleven groups (multiple-case families or halfsibling groups with at least two informative diseased offspring/group) were analyzed for manifestation of the disease and segregation of the parental haplotypes. The results of the maximum likelihood test of association (P less than 0.005) and the calculated high lod score value of 5.70 give evidence for linkage between the locus encoding the determined class I CLA alleles and a hypothetical locus (i) coding for genes responsible for arthritis resistance/susceptibility. The particular class I CLA allele associated with the disease susceptibility varied from family to family, however. These data provide the first evidence that CAE virus-induced arthritis in the goat is genetically influenced by the MHC system; they also suggest that susceptibility/resistance genes are not directly associated with the determined class I gene products but rather are in close genetic linkage.