Further evidence for the partition of HLA-B14

The minimal sequential absorption of 12 HLA-B14 antisera with B14 positive cells provided 10 antisera that showed a high correlation (r values > 0.8) with the original B14.1 and B14.2 sera of Dewar et al. (1977). The subdivisions defined by the absorbed sera corresponded to the B14 subtype of their immunizing cell. The subtyping of 112 B14 positive individuals showed the frequency of B14.1 to be 33.04%. B14 heterozygous individuals always typed for one but never for both subdivisions. Analysis of a population of 2,044 showed B14.1 to be in linkage disequilibrium with Aw32 and B14.2 with Aw33, Aw30 and A3. It is concluded that B14.1 and B14.2 are distinct antigens which, in the population tested, comprise the entire specificity of HLA-B14.