Associations of HLA-DR and HLA-DQ types with anti-GBM nephritis by sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe hybridization.

Twenty-three patients from the United States with anti-glomerular basement membrane nephritis (Goodpasture's syndrome) were HLA class I and class II typed by serology and HLA-DR and HLA-DQB typed using sequence-specific oligonucleotide (SSO) probes. Protocols used were those of the 11th International HLA Workshop. We were able to confirm the strong association of DR2 with the disease and, using the molecular techniques, showed that all DR2 patients were restricted to DRB1-1501 and DQB1-0602 alleles. We also found highly significant associations between disease and the alleles of DRB1-0301 and DQB1-0201. DR4 alleles as a group were not significantly more frequent among patients, but the allele DRB1-0404 did appear to be associated with the disease. The use of SSO typing provides an expanded opportunity for refined analysis of HLA and disease associated alleles.