Three generations of a not consanguineous Italian family and 40 subjects suffering from alopecia areata (AA) and residing in Northern Italy were studied. There were 321 healthy control subjects of both sexes. Six family members from three generations were affected with alopecia universalis. The subjects were HLA-phenotyped using different HLA-A, B and C antigen specificities. No significant association was found between HLA-A, B and C antigens and AA patients at the population level. Segregation analysis showed that affected members shared a common haplotype, HLA-Aw32, B18,-.