A Xhosa father and daughter with ankylosing spondylitis are reported. Review of the literature revealed a low incidence of ankylosing spondylitis in Blacks in general, with only isolated reports from the continent of Africa itself. To our knowledge, there has been no documentation of ankylosing spondylitis in a black female, or of ankylosing spondylitis in first-degree Black relatives. The clin...

We proposed that the killer cell Ig-like receptor KIR3DL2 binding more strongly to HLA-B27 (B27) β2-microglobulin free H chain (FHC) dimers than other HLA-class I molecules regulates lymphocyte function in arthritis and infection. We compared the function of B27 FHC dimers with other class I H chains and identified contact residues in KIR3DL2. B27 FHC dimers interacted functionally with KIR3DL2...

Acute anterior uveitis (AAU) is associated with HLA-B27 in 50% of the patients. Although the association between HLA-B27 and AAU is evident, other genetic factors probably also play a pathogenic role. To investigate whether HLA-B27 only serves as a marker gene for genes next to the B-locus, class I and II HLA antigens of 62 HLA-B27+ AAU patients were determined. Increased frequencies were found...

We have previously shown that antibodies raised in rabbits to certain enteric bacteria will specifically lyse, in a 51Cr release assay, the peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of 80% of HLA-B27 positive patients with ankylosing spondylitis (B27+ AS+) but not the PBL of HLA-B27 positive normal controls (B27+ AS-). Other laboratories have been unable to reproduce these findings. This study was des...

The immune response to HIV-1 in patients who carry human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 is characterized by an immunodominant response to an epitope in p24 gag (amino acids 263-272, KRWIILGLNK). Substitution of lysine (K) or glycine (G) for arginine (R) at HIV-1 gag residue 264 (R264K and R264G) results in epitopes that bind to HLA-B27 poorly. We have detected a R264K mutation i...

Reiter's syndrome (RS) is uncommon in children, and the classic triad manifestations of RS usually do not occur simultaneously in children. It is often clinically confused with other childhood illnesses. We report a case of RS in a 7-year-old boy with a family history of ankylosing spondylitis. He had developed intermittent arthralgia of the right knee for about 6 months and occasional bilatera...

The human leukocyte antigen B27 (HLA-B27) transgenic rat is a model of human inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. Studies of chronic inflammation in other rat models have demonstrated activation of the kallikrein-kinin system as well as modulation by a plasma kallikrein inhibitor initiated before the onset of clinicopathologic changes or a deficiency in high-molecular...

Uveitis is an inflammatory disease with significant disease burden, as it causes ≤10% of legal blindness in the USA. Patients are usually affected in their prime working years. Even in those with good treatment response, quality of life is substantially compromised. The most common form of uveitis is acute anterior uveitis, and approximately half of these cases are associated with human leukocy...