Gm markers in celiac disease.

The association of Ig allotypes with celiac disease was analyzed in a sample of 95 Italian patients typed for HLA polymorphisms. No significant association was found for any Gm, A2m, or Km specificity when the overall sample was considered. However, significant different sex ratios were shown by patients' fnb positive and fnb negative genotypes, with a relative risk of 10.7 for this haplotype in males, suggesting that sex and Gm influence the penetrance of the HLA-linked genes. The significance of this finding is strengthened by the recent report that H-2 and Ig allotypes intervene in the genetic control of murine immune response to A-gliadin (M.F. Kagnoff, Nature 296:158, 1982).