HLA class II alleles in Japanese patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The distribution of HLA-DRB1 alleles and DQB1 alleles in 30 Japanese patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) was analyzed using polymerase chain reaction with the sequence-specific primer (PCR-SSP) method, and the association between the disease and the presence of certain HLA class II alleles was investigated. The frequencies of HLA-DRB1*0803, DRB1*0802 and DRB1*1502 were increased while those of DRB1*1501 and DRB1*0405 were decreased. On the other hand, the incidence of HLA-DQB1 alleles was similar to that in the normal population. However, none of these HLA class II alleles showed significant positive or negative associations with NHL. In addition, when allele frequencies of NHL Japanese patients were compared to Thai patients, only DRB1*0803 was significantly increased in Japanese patients. These results indicate that DRB1*0803 may not contribute to NHL susceptibility in the Japanese population. However, further studies with larger numbers of NHL Japanese patients are needed to confirm our preliminary findings.

Incidence of abnormalities in laboratory tests found in surveillance of adults over 40 years of age.

National health check-up systems have been used for 5 years in Japan for adults who are over 40 years of age. As part of a national project, Osaka prefecture is also conducting a program for health check-up testing and cancer screening for this age group. This surveillance revealed that incidence of obesity, hypertension, cholesterolemia, albuminuria, or abnormal ECG was high. Analysis of surveillance results should contribute to understanding the present status and recent trends in diseases in the aged. With continuation of this surveillance for a number of years, trends in life-style related diseases in Japan should be detectable.

Current status of liver function tests in Japan.

Inter-laboratory variations in data obtained from surveillance in Japan were studied. The items evaluated were related to liver function and were as follows: total bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyltransferase (gamma-GT), cholinesterase (CHE), lactate dehydrogenase (LD), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and hepatitis markers. Inter-laboratory coefficients of variations for bilirubin, AST and ALT were acceptable, being less than 10%. but higher variations were found for thle other enzyme assays. Detection of hepatitis markers was acceptable. However. even for parameters with lower inter-laboratory variation, differences in obtained values among different reagents or methods still existed. Thus, standardization will be needed for laboratory data in Japan, and this will contribute to international standardization in laboratory medicine in the future.