[1] (For terminology help see: HLA-serotype tutorial) B7, previously HL-A7, was one of the first 'HL-A' antigens recognized, largely because of the frequency of B*0702 in Northern and Western Europe and the United States.
[citation needed] HLA-B7 along with HLA-DQ8 increased risk for cervical cancer in Costa Rican [4] and South Asian women[5] A weak relationship between HLA-B7 and sarcoidosis has been known for 30+ years, [6] yet has not consistently been reproducible in all studies however.
The HFE gene responsible for haemochromatosis is distal on chromosome 6 from HLA-A and more so from HLA-B, the distance suffices (3 million nucleotides) to allow equilibration of the loci.
[9] In october 2021, a team of researcher from Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine in Montreal, Canada, announced the discovery of HLA-B7 genetic marker as a potential cause for severe form of covid-19.
While they noted that more work will be necessary to confirm this discovery, they found that individuals carrying the HLA-B7 genetic marker, which represents 35% of the population worldwide, are more likely to have a less effective immune response to covid-19.