Lack of Association of HLA‐A and B Locus Antigens with Relapsing Polychondritis

Relapsing polychondritis is a systemic disease of unknown cause in which various inflammatory reactions recur in the cartilage structures of the ears, nose, and trachea (Kaye & Sones 1964). Although the cause of this disease is unknown, several immunologic abnormalities have been noted which explain some of the pathogenic mechanisms involved (Dolan et al. 1966, Herman & Dennis 1973, Rajapakse & Bywaters 1974, McKenna et al. 1976, Bergfeld 1978, Foidart et al. 1978). To ascertain if the frequency of HLA antigen is increased among patients with this disease, we performed HLA‐A and HLA‐B locus typing in Caucasian patients with well documented disease. Serologically defined HLA antigens at the A and B loci were determined by the microcytotoxicity assay of Mittal et al. (1968). No statistically significant increase in the frequency of any of the HLA‐A or B locus antigen type was found between the patient group and the control group (Table 1). These findings suggest that no correlation exists between HLA‐A and B locus antigens and relapsing polychondritis. HLA‐DRw antigen typing was not done, although such typing would be of interest.