HL-A-W27 — A Useful Discriminator in the Arthropathies of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

THE remarkable association of the second segregant series histocompatibility antigen (HL-A) W27 with idiopathic ankylosing spondylitis is firmly established. Ninety per cent of patients with this disorder are W27 positive as compared to 8 per cent of normal white control subjects.1 , 2 W27 has also been reported with unusual frequency in anterior uveitis of diverse causes as well as in Reiter's syndrome, raising the possibility of shared pathogenetic mechanisms in these disorders.3 4 5 It is well recognized that spondylitis and a peripheral seronegative arthritis occur in a large number of patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease.6 , 7 Although the peripheral arthropathy has several . . .