Study of HLA alloantigens of the Navajo Indians of North America. II. HLA-A, B, C, DR and other genetic markers

This report presents the antigen frequencies for HLA-A, B, C, DR, immunoglobulin, and red blood cell systems for the Navajo Indians of North America. HLA-A-B,B-C, and B-DR haplotype frequencies and significant delta values are given. These data are compared with similar data for other American Indians and major non-Indian ethnic groups. Very restricted HLA polymorphism is unique for the Navajo as well as American Indians in general and this feature has important implications with regard to disease association and transplantation.

Frozen-thawed mononuclear cells as a source of B lymphocytes for antibody screening

B lymphocytes were isolated from fresh blood and frozen-thawed lymphocyte preparations from the same donors. A panel of 55 human antisera, previously found to react with human peripheral blood B lymphocytes in cytotoxicity assays, was screened against these B-cell preparations. There was essentially no difference in the reactions of B-cell antisera with fresh B lymphocytes when compared with frozen-thawed cells. The percentage recovery of B cells from the fresh and frozen preparations was not significantly different.

HL-A antigens in mummified pre-Columbian tissues

Tissue extracts of pre-Columbian mummies, from 500 to 2000 years old, were found to inhibit specific antibodies to HL-A. Two-thirds of the specimens tested gave positive results. Patterns of reactions obtained with different antiserums detecting the same antigen were concordant and consistent with known relations between HL-A antigens. The distribution of antigens found was similar to that observed in present-day descendants of the ancient populations studied. Although artifacts due to contaminating substances could have occurred, the reactions resembled in many respects those of HL-A antigens rather than those of nonspecific cross-reacting inhibitors. Development of a technique for HL-A typing of mummified remains may open new possibilities for anthropologic studies.