HLA association mnemonics

The genes that encode HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) are on chromosome 6.

MHC class	Type	Location	Function
I	HLA-A, -B, -C	All cells	Recognized by CD8+ lymphocytes
II	HLA-DP, -DQ, -DR	Antigen presenting cells	Recognized by CD4+ lymphocytes
III	Complement components	Plasma	Chemotaxis, opsonization, lysis of bacteria and cells

The rhymes

Two and Three – SLE
Three and Four – Sugar

HLA DR-2 and DR-3: SLE

• HLA DR-2: Japanese SLE
• HLA DR-3: Caucasian SLE

HLA DR-3 and DR-4: Diabetes Mellitus type 1 (IDDM)

Bet (B8) – Death (Grave)

HLA B-8:

• GRAVE’s disease
• Myasthenia GRAVIS

HLA DR-3 and B-8 share same disease associations many times:

1. Graves’ disease
2. Myasthenia gravis
3. Sarcoidosis
4. Sjogren’s syndrome
5. Celiac disease and Dermatitis herpetiformis
6. SLE
7. Dermatomyositis
8. Addison’s disease

C 6 – Sis Vulgaris

• HLA CW-6: Psoriasis vulgaris

Seven – Pee in Heaven

HLA-DR7: Steroid responsive nephrotic syndrome

Other Mnemonics

Two pairs of alphabets – GH and MN

HLA DR-2:

• Goodpasture’s syndrome
• Hayfever
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Narcolepsy

Take 1st letter from DM and 1st letter from RA, and in total they make 4 letters

DM + RA = DR4

HLA-DR4:

• Diabetes Mellitus
• Rheumatoid Arthritis (93% have HLA type)

If you see B with 5 it’s Behcet’s disease

• HLA B-5
• HLA B-51
• HLA B-52

HLA DR-5:

• Pernicious anemia
• Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
• Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
• Alopecia areata

HLA A-3: Ferric ion is trivalent

• Hemochromatosis

HLA B-27: PAIR

Seronegative arthritis:

1. Psoriatic arthritis
2. Ankylosing spondylitis (relative risk 70-90%)
3. Inflammatory bowel disease
4. Reiter’s syndrome (relative risk 40%)