Histocompatibility antigens and gold toxicity: a preliminary report

To investigate the possibility that genetic factors are involved in the outcome of gold salt therapy for arthritis, histocompatibility antigens (HLA) were determined for 32 patients treated with gold salts. A comparison of patients who achieved remission following gold therapy with those who did not failed to demonstrate any difference in HLA antigens. Patients who had experienced adverse reactions during gold therapy were found to have an increased frequency of the HLA-B12 antigen. Gold toxicity occurred in 69.2 per cent (9/13) of patients with the B12 antigen, compared with 26.3 per cent (5/19) of patients without the antigen (P = 0.035).