J Natl Med Assoc
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Comparative Study
Race-related differences in HLA association with ankylosing spondylitis and Reiter's disease in American blacks and whites.
Ankylosing spondylitis is three times less common in American blacks than in whites. It is extremely rare in African blacks of unmixed ancestry. ⋯ Other genetic and environmental factors may be of major importance in the genesis of these diseases in American blacks. For diagnostic purposes the absence of B27 is of less importance in excluding these diseases in blacks than in whites.