Gm and Km allotypes in autoimmune diseases.

The associations or linkages between the polymorphisms of the Gm and Km immunoglobulin allotypes and the susceptibility to autoimmune diseases, including diseases with immuno-pathological pathogenesis are reported in this review. These diseases include multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, Crohn's disease, coeliac disease, Graves' disease, atrophic thyroiditis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, myasthenia gravis, chronic active hepatitis, alopecia areata, uveitis, vitiligo, Turner's syndrome, glomerular nephritis, Berger's disease and idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. Immunoglobulin allotypes are described as well as the statistical methods used to analyse the data.