HLA phenotypes of 54 patients with tuberculoid leprosy were compared with those of 167 healthy controls. Frequencies of HLA-A, -B and -C antigens did not differ significantly between the leprosy patients and the controls. However, an increase in the frequencies of DR1, DR2, DRW8 and MT1 antigens and a decrease in the frequencies of DR4 and MT3 antigens were observed in the leprosy patients. Statistical evidence was presented that MT1 antigens were primarily associated with tuberculoid leprosy in Japanese patients rather than DR2.

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A Japanese male with a deficiency of the second and ninth components of complement associated with chronic idiopathic neutropenia is presented. In this case the second component of complement is totally deficient while the ninth component is approximately half that of normal control. Neutrophil granulocytes are constantly few, but this case shows no evidence of susceptibility to either viral or bacterial infections. His HLA type is different from that of Caucasians, suggesting that the genetic abnormality responsible for the complement deficiency of this Japanese case is different from that seen in Caucasian patients.

Summary176 HLA-A:HLA-B:C4 haplotypes of the Japanese population as deduced by family analysis are described. Four combinations between the HLA and C4 alleles, namely, B!2-C4 s, Bw54-C4 r, Bw52-C4 F and Aw33-C4 s, are shown to be in significantly positive linkage disequilibrium, This finding suggests close proximity between the HLA-B and C4 loci. In a family with HLA-A :HLA-B recombinant, the evidence is presented indicating that the C4 allele travels with the HLA-A allele. Therefore, it is considered that the C4 locus is probably situated between the HLA-A and HLA-B loci.

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