From K. AHMADI, C. WILSON, A. EBRINGER
Your report that a gene has been ‘discovered’ linking salmonella infection
with arthritis (This Week, 21 March), although quite interesting, is not
exactly a recent observation.
The first report that HLA-B 27 is linked to salmonella arthritis was
made by the Danish workers Friis and Svejgaard some 18 years ago. Furthermore
the link between HLA-B 27 and Reiter’s disease was made even earlier by
Brewerton and co-workers from London. Actually, this topic was discussed
in the pages of Â鶹´«Ã½ some 14 years ago by one of us (‘The link
between genes and disease’ by Alan Ebringer, 21 September 1978).
It is clear that HLA-B 27 is an interesting gene linking infection with
arthritis and it would appear that this has been known for some time.
K. Ahmadi, C. Wilson, A. Ebringer King’s College London
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