SUMMARYBackground: Characteristic immune profiles have been demonstrated in gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. However, the genetic basis of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease remains unclear. Aim: To investigate whether certain human leucocyte antigen genes are associated with Barrett's oesophagus. Methods: Asian patients of Malay, Chinese and Indian descent with Barrett's oesophagus (n ¼ 59) and those without reflux symptoms and a normal oesophagus (n ¼ 60) were recruited prospectively using endoscopic and histopathological criteria. Human leucocyte antigen class I and II typing was performed using a polymerase chain reaction sequence-specific primers method. Results: The HLA-B7 allele was present in 17% (10 of 59) of patients with Barrett's oesophagus when com-

One hundred and fifty-eight Kadazan, Iban and Bidayuh individuals registered with the Malaysian Marrow Donor Registry were typed for human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A, HLA-B and HLA-DR. Six, seven and eight HLA-A alleles as well as 13, 15 and 16 HLA-B alleles were detected in the Kadazan, Bidayuh and Iban, respectively. The most common HLA-A allele in all three groups was HLA-A*24 with a frequency of 0.456, 0.490 and 0.422 in the Kadazan, Bidayuh and Iban, respectively. The most common HLA-B allele detected in the Kadazan was HLA-B*40 with a frequency of 0.333; for the Bidayuh and the Iban it was HLA-B*15 with a frequency of 0.460 and 0.275, respectively. The HLA-DR allele with the highest frequency in the Kadazan was HLA-DR*1502 with a frequency of 0.500. In the Iban and the Bidayuh, HLA-DRB1*1202 was the most common DR allele with frequencies of 0.235 and 0.310, respectively. The two most common haplotypes for the Kadazan are A*34-B*38-DR*1502 and A*24-B*40-DR*0405, whereas for the Bidayuh they are A*24-B*15-DR*1602 and A*24-B*35-DR*1202 and for the Iban they are A*34-*B15-DR*1502 and A*24-B*15-DR*1202.

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