RESUMEN
Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) is an antigen system found on surface of white blood cells and body tissues. Their functions are related to immune response to recognize and eliminate foreign antigens. Many diseases are associated with HLA alleles, especially HLA-B*27 which is strongly associated with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). In this study, the high resolution PCR-SSP has been developed to detect HLA-B*27 by 2 primer mixtures (Sc1 and Sc2). The HLA-B*27 group specific primers have been tested in 846 unrelated healthy northeastern Thais (NET), 338 northern Thais (NT), 271 Karens and 308 Burmese. Sixty-three NET (7.4 %), 24 NT (7.1 %), 5 Karens (1.8 %), and 12 Burmese (3.9 %) were positive for HLA-B*27. This study established a simple technology for HLA-B*27 testing and provided basic information for assessing the risk of AS and further study in disease associations.