Familial patterns of narcolepsy

Familial patterns of narcolepsy were investigated in a clinic population of 334 unrelated narcoleptic patients. 40% of probands had at least 1 family member with an isolated daytime sleepiness complaint and 6% had a positive family history of narcolepsy. Multicase families were rare; only two families were found with 3 or more affected relatives. Family members often shared the same HLA-DR2 haplotype as the proband but did not have narcolepsy. However, the risk of disease for first-degree relatives was six to eighteen times greater than that for unrelated individuals. Although most patients were HLA-DR2+, 2 new HLA-DR2- individuals were found. The data predict that as many as 9% of unrelated North-American white patients with narcolepsy will be DR2-. Analysis of these and other data indicates that although strongly associated with disease, the HLA-DR2 haplotype is neither sufficient nor necessary for the development of narcolepsy.