HLA antigens and affective illness

HLA-A and B locus antigens were determined in 96 affectively ill persons including 25 unipolar and 47 bipolar patients. The frequency of HLA-A28 is higher than in controls in each patient group. HLA-Bw16 is present with an elevated frequency among the unipolar patients. These differences are no longer significant when corrected for the number of antigens tested. The literature on HLA antigens in affective illnesses is reviewed and possible reasons for the seemingly conflicting results found to date are briefly discussed.