HLA and diabetes

Abstract

HLA studies have conclusively demonstrated that IDDM and non-IDDM are separate disease entities. A considerable part of the genetic susceptibility to IDDM is due to one or more HLA genes. The HLA-DR3 and -DR4 factors showing the strongest association with IDDM belong to the so-called DR antigens, which are believed to be the immune response determinants of man. A dominant model for the HLA-controlled susceptibility to IDDM has been ruled out and a recessive model seems unlikely. A gene-dose model intermediate between dominance and recessivity is still possible, but there is also some evidence against this model, because DR3/4 heterozygotes seem to have a considerably higher risk of developing IDDM than has DR3/3 and DR4/4 homozygotes. It has been suggested that DR3 (or a DR3-associated factor) and DR4 (or a DR4-associated factor) confer susceptibility to IDDM each by a separate mechanism, and more recently that DR3/4 heterozygotes may carry combinatorial antigens which could contribute to the susceptibility to IDDM. Studies of HLA-associated clinical heterogeneity within IDDM are indicated to gain further insight in the genetics of IDDM.