Association of HLA B8 with spontaneous resolution in sarcoidosis

Abstract

HLA may influence the natural history of some diseases. HLA frequencies have been compared in 164 healthy control subjects, 50 patients with sarcoid lung fibrosis, and 37 patients with sarcoidosis that resolved spontaneously. B8 was increased significantly in the resolved group compared to both healthy control subjects (p<0.001) and the fibrotic group (p<0.01). The results support the findings of other investigators, and are consistent with the hypothesis that inherited host factors, perhaps related to immune response, influence the clinical expression of sarcoidosis.