Temporal trends of HLA genotype frequencies of type 1 diabetes patients in Sweden from 1986 to 2005 suggest altered risk

The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genotypes in 1–18-year-old patients with type 1 diabetes newly diagnosed in 1986–1987 (n = 430), 1996–2000 (n = 342) and in 2003–2005 (n = 171). We tested the hypothesis that the HLA DQ genotype distribution changes over time. Swedish type 1 diabetes patients and controls were typed for HLA using polymerase chain reaction amplification and allele specific probes for DQ A1* and B1* alleles. The most common type 1 diabetes HLA DQA1*-B1*genotype 0501-0201/0301-0302 was 36% (153/430) in 1986–1987 and 37% (127/342) in 1996–2000, but decreased to 19% (33/171) in 2003–2005 (P 0.05). This study in 1–18-year-old Swedish type 1 diabetes patients supports the notion that there is a temporal change in HLA risk.