Association between Takayasu's Arteritis and a B-Cell Alloantigen in North Americans

Abstract

TAKAYASU'S arteritis (aortic-arch syndrome) is a rare inflammatory disease that involves large arteries and often leads to segmental-vessel necrosis and subsequent occlusive or aneurysmal sequelae.¹ The disease has a worldwide distribution, and its cause remains unknown. However, studies in the Japanese population, in which the disease appears to be more frequent, have revealed an association between the disease and an HLA antigen, Bw52, which is present in 44 per cent of affected persons.^{2 , 3} An incompletely characterized B-cell antigen, DHO, has also been detected in 40 per cent of patients.⁴ Human B-cell alloantigens, coded in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), are . . .