Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus and HLA antigens in Papua New Guinea.

HLA phenotypes were studied in 57 Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic Papuan patients and the results compared with control subjects of the same Austronesian origin. An association was found between disease and BW62, a split antigen of B15, with corrected probability significant at the 5% level. The frequencies of B13 and BW22 were also increased in diabetic patients but the differences were not statistically significant. Although it has been postulated that Melanesian communities have protection against diabetes, they have a high frequency of BW62, which would imply, from the association found in this study, that susceptibility to Type 2 diabetes has yet to become manifest in them.