The evaluation of the epigenetic methylation maps of cord blood samples (114) evidenced marked differences in the methylation status of CpG sites within the major histocompatibility complex genes (cis-metQTLs) between carriers of the T1D risk haplotypes HLA-DRB1*03-DQA1*0501-DQB1*0201 (DR3-DQ2) and HLA-DRB1*04-DQA1*0301-DQB1*0302 (DR4-DQ8) compared to controls. The gene discussed is HLA-DRB1; the disease is type 1 diabetes mellitus.