HLA antigens in narcolepsy

Abstract

Eighteen black patients with narcolepsy underwent human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing. Eleven of the 18 had cataplexy. Twelve patients (66.6%) had HLA-DR2; 7 patients with cataplexy had DR2. All patients had DQw1. In contrast to white and Japanese patients studied to date, not all black narcoleptics have DR2.