also: エッチエルエーこうげん
Medical term for proteins on cell surfaces that help the immune system distinguish self from non-self; important in organ transplantation and disease association.
Before organ transplantation, the compatibility of the patient's and donor's HLA antigens is checked.
It is known that certain HLA antigens are associated with autoimmune diseases.
From English 'HLA' (human leukocyte antigen) + 抗原 (antigen). The term is a direct borrowing of the medical acronym.