PVU II polymorphism of LST-1 (leucocyte specific transcript-1) in type I diabetes mellitus, Graves' disease and healthy controls.

The polymorphism of the LST-1 gene (the human homologue of the mouse B144 gene) can be identified by Pvu II restriction enzyme digestion. We investigated the contribution of this RFLP to disease susceptibility in 117 patients with type I diabetes mellitus (IDDM), 110 with Graves' disease (GD) and 93 healthy controls. The distribution of the different LST-1 alleles (LST-1*1:1323 bp, LST-1*2:610 bp/713) was similar among IDDM and GD patients as well as in controls. The combination of DQA1*0501, DQB1*0201 and DQB1*0301, all predisposing to endocrine autoimmune disease, with LST-1*1 or LST-1*2 was not increased in patients. Analysis of two informative families with IDDM demonstrated cosegregation of DQA1 and DQB1 alleles with LST-1 alleles. No association of LST-1 polymorphisms with IDDM nor GD could be demonstrated.