How to understand the nomenclature and the mechanisms involved on the association between histocompatibity antigens and alleles with disease

Abstract

Due to the extensive degree of polymorphism of histocompatibility molecules and alleles, the continued changing of HLA nomenclature, the large recent developments for HLA typing methods at molecular level, and the growing knowledge of the function of HLA molecules in the immune response, the issue regarding the mechanisms of HLA and disease association have yielded much confusion between the HLA non-specialists. The aim of this revision is to facilitate the comprehension of the nomenclature of the Major Histocompatibility Complex, and to overview the current status of the topic HLA and disease association.