HLA extended haplotypes in steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome of childhood.

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome has been postulated to have an immunopathogenic basis. To determine whether steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome is associated with greater than expected frequencies of specific extended haplotypes of the major histocompatibility complex, we studied genetic markers (Class I, II, III HLA alleles and glyoxalase I) in 173 subjects in 42 families of patients with nephrotic syndrome of childhood. The single allele, DQW2, was found in 72% of steroid sensitive patients compared with only 35% of the controls (P = 0.