HLA-DR2 in two sibships with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

We report two families selected from 124 genotyped Caucasian insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) families because of unusual features. In both families, all offspring are affected and four out of six bear the allele HLA-DR2 which is an uncommon phenotype among diabetic patients. Onset before the age of 1 year in all the patients of one family, association with optic atrophy in the other, and the existence of pairs of affected sibs of different HLA types in both, are infrequent findings and support the evidence of heterogeneity in IDDM.