Tissue Antigens (1976), 7, 55-56

SHORT COMMUNICATION

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Frequencies of HLA-A and HLA-B Histocompatibility Antigens in Paget’s Disease of Bone Philippa Cullen’, R. G. G. Russell’, R. J. Walton’ and Joan Whiteley’ ‘Department of Immunopathology, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford; and 2Nuffield Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K. Received for publication 7 September, accepted 18 September 1975

Paget’s disease of bone is a disease of unknown cause characterised by increased and disordered formation and resorption of bone (Nagant de Deuxchaisnes & Krane 1964). Osteogenic sarcoma is an occasional complication, suggesting that the disease is essentially neoplastic. It therefore seemed worthwhile to examine the distribution of HLA-A and HLA-B antigens in a group of patients with Paget’s disease. The materials and methods used in this study have been described previously (Mason & Cullen 1975). Forty unrelated patients (15 women and 25 men) with Paget’s disease were studied, between February and May 1974. T h e diagnosis was based on typical X-ray appearances and on

plasma alkaline phosphatase and urine hydroxyproline values above the upper limits of normal. The patients were all tissue typed with the same panel of 60 antisera, detecting the HLA-A antigens 1,2,3,9, 10, 11,28,29, W30/31 (“da 25”, defined by serum Merle) and W32, and the HLA-B antigens 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 18, 27, W15, W17, W20 (serum SA-AJ), W21, W22, W35, W37 and W40. The distribution of antigens in these patients was compared with that in 83 control subjects (Mason & Cullen 1975), who were a younger population, tissue typed between November 1970 and January 1973 using five different batches of antisera, which were not the same as those used for the patients in this study. However, there

56

P A G E T S DISEASE OF B O N E

was considerable overlap of sera between the batches, and they had been selected to ensure continuity of specificity. All the controls were tissue typed for 18 well-defined antigens: HLA-AI, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11 and 28,

Table 1 Distribution of HLA-A and HLA-B antigens in patients and controls

&li

Controls

Antigen

HLA-A 1 2 3 9

29/83 36/83 26/83 14/83 11/83 5/59 8/83 4/83 10/75 1/75 n.t.

10

11 (i)* (ii) 28 29 W30/31 W32

HLA-B 5 (i)* (ii)

7 8 12 13 14 18* 181W35 (i)* (ii) 27 W15 W17 w20 w21 w22 w35* w37 W40 ~~

No.

Patients

Xz

P>

40 58 25 17 5 10 10 3 10 0 0

0.12 1.63 0.26 0.03 1.17 0.01 0.07 0.02 0.05 0.10 -

0.70 0.20 0.50 0.80 0.20 0.90 0.70 0.90 0.80 0.70

4/40 10 4/40 10 9/40 23 9/40 23 13/40 33 2/40 5 0/40 0 4/40 10 6/40 15 6/40 11 5/40 13 9/40 23 3/40 8 6/40 15 1/40 3 5/40 13 2/40 5 0140 0 5/40 13

1.03 3.34 0.87 0.01 0.92 0.41 0.88 0.03 0.04 0.77 2.75 0.01 3.41 0.77

0.30 0.05 0.30 0.95 0.30 0.50 0.30

% No.

%

35 43 31 17 13 8 10 5 13 1

-

3/83 4 1/83 1 27/83 33 20183 24 36/83 43 1/83 1 7/83 8 n.t. 10183 12 12/83 14 5/83 6 8183 10 8/83 10 n.t. n.t. 2/83 2 n.t. n.t. 5/83 6

16/40 23/40 10140 7/40 2/40 4/40 4/40 1140 4/40 0/40 0140

-

and HLA-B5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 27, W15, W17, W22 and W40. They were also tested with antisera detecting the HLA-B18 or W35 specificities, but because of the heterogeneity of these antigens it was not possible to distinguish between them with the available antisera, and results are therefore given for “18/W35” (see .Mason & Cullen 1975). Differences in antigen distributions between the control and test populations were assessed by the X 2 test, applying Yates’ correction. The results are summarised in Table 1 -no statistically significant differences were found. Although a larger group of patients would be required to demonstrate small differences from controls, this study probably excludes any marked association between Paget’s disease of bone and one of the antigens tested for.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Fund for Research into Crippling Diseases. We are grateful to Dr. H. Festenstein for the supply of antisera, to Dr. R. Smith for allowing us to study patients under his care, and to Dr. M. M. Pickles in whose laboratory the tissue typing was performed.

-

0.80 0.80 0.30 0.05 0.95

-

0.05

-

References Mason, D. Y . & Cullen, P. (1975) HL-A antigen frequencies in myeloma. Tissue Antigens 5 , 238-245. Nagant de Deuxchaisnes, C. & Krane, S. M. (1964) Paget’s disease of bone: clinical and metabolic observations. Medicine (Baltimore) 43, 233-266.

0.30

~

*The serological definition of HLA-A1 1 and of HLA-B5, 18 and W35 in the controls has been discussed by Mason & Cullen (1975). n.t.: not tested.

Address: Dr. R. J . .Walton Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre Oxford OX3 7LD U.K.