HLA Antigens and Berger's Disease

We have studied the frequencies of HLA–A, –B antigens in 73 Berger's disease patients, plus HLA–DR antigens in 35 of them, and compared the percentages of antigens frequencies with those of a local and national panel. This study does not confirm the positive associations with HLA–Bw35 or HLA–B12 which have been previously reported. The HLA–DR typing only showed increased frequency of blanks in the patients (P < 0.01, but no significant corr. P). Patients with Berger's disease and renal failure have a higher (but still not significant) HLA–Bw35 frequency than those without renal failure. The reasons for the discrepancy between our group and others are analysed.