This may explain why there was no difference in the prevalence of high-risk variants of HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 genotypes between LADA individuals with and without AD, even though these variants have also been linked to increased risk of coeliac disease, thyroid dysfunction and rheumatoid arthritis [43, 44]. Here, HLA-DQB1 is linked to rheumatoid arthritis.