Histocompatibility antigens in patients with alcoholic liver disease in Scotland and northeastern England: Failure to show an association

Abstract

A study of HLA-A and B antigens in 248 patients with biopsy diagnosed alcoholic liver disease was conducted to examine for a genetic predisposition to alcohol related liver injury. No statistically significant differences were established for 8 HLA-A and 16 HLA-B antigens between normal healthy controls (n=342) and patients with alcoholic fatty liver (n=86), alcoholic hepatitis (n=63), active alcoholic cirrhosis (n=64) and inactive alcoholic cirrhosis (n=35). It is concluded that no HLA-A or B locus genetic susceptibility to alcoholic related injury could be shown.