Leprosy associated with HLA-DR2 and DQw1 in the population of northern Thailand

A study of the frequency of HLA-DR2 and DQwl was performed in leprosy patients and controls in northern Thailand. HLA-DR2 was found in 100% (17/17) of patients with sporadic tuberculoid leprosy and in over 90% (30/32) of all tuberculoid leprosy patients, as compared to 62% (20/32) of controls (p = .02). These strong associations had relative risks of 21.4 for sporadic and 7.4 for all tuberculoid leprosy, and etiologic fractions of 1.0 and 0.84, respectively. There was also a statistically significant and strong association between tuberculoid leprosy and DQwl. These data add to the growing body of evidence that products of HLA class II determinants or closely linked genes may play a role in determining the clinical manifestations of M. leprae infection.