HLA-AB and -DR types in patients with infectious mononucleosis (IM)

The frequency of HLA-A, -B and -DR antigens in 48 infectious mononucleosis (IM) patients was studied and the antigen frequencies were compared with those of a local panel. The resulting data do not confirm the association of IM and HLA-B35 as reported in a previous work. A high and significant frequency of blank HLA-DR phenotypes was noticed in IM population during the acute phase, but HLA-DR phenotypic expression was restored after recovery. This lack of expression could be the result of modified HLA-DR expression on circulating EBV infected B lymphocytes.