In article <scharfs-2811950937080001 at sjscharf.slip.netcom.com> scharfs at rnisd0.dnet.roche.com (Stephen Scharf) writes:
>From: scharfs at rnisd0.dnet.roche.com (Stephen Scharf)
>Subject: HLA B27 testing
>Date: Tue, 28 Nov 1995 17:37:08 GMT
>Hi Netters,
>Does anyone here do any HLA-B27 testing for ankylosing spondylitis? I'm curious
>if anyone that does testing for this marker uses Antibodies and FACS or PCR. How
>important is it to test for various other HLA specifities, e.g. the cross-
>reactive group (B0701, 0702, 0703, 4201, 5401, 5501, 5502, 5601, 5602)? Any help
>would be most appreciated.
>>Thanks,
>Stephen Scharf.
>--
>Stephen J. Scharf
>email:sjscharf at netcom.com>or: 72070,750 at Compuserve.com
In general, it is not necessary to do HLA-B27 testing for diagnostic purposes.
There are exceptions eg back pain in a young man who has family history of
ankylosing spondylitis. Neither is it necessary to do HLA-B27 subtyping in
clinical practice. The only HLA-B27 subtype which has been reported not to
associate with ankylosing spondylitis is B*2709. This has not been verified
in other populations. In clinical labs, testing is done by complement
dependent cytotoxicity using a panel of antibodies, or by FACS using a FITC
anti-HLA-B27 antibody. There is one from One Lambda lab and one in Europe.
However, the European one also cross-reacts with HLA-B7. The One Lambda lab
does not. It is suspected that PCR can pick up some HLA-B27 positive subjects
which are missed by the antibody tests.
David Yu
dtyyu at ucla.edu
