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Korean rheumatoid arthritis patients may be more likely to have the gene HLA-DR4 than other ethnic groups. Researchers analyzed the presence of HLA-DR blood antigens in 95 Korean patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in 118 Koreans without RA. The gene fragment DRB1*0405 correlated significantly with RA, a finding that has previously been found among Japanese, Singaporean Chinese, and southern Chinese RA patients. The prevalence pattern of HLA-DR4 gene fragments in Korean patients with RA differed from the pattern found among Caucasian patients. Korean patients also had the amino acid sequence QRRAA on DRB1 gene fragment molecules, which may be associated with a predisposition to RA.