Susceptibility to acquire Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA) is linked to HLA-DR5 and DRw8 antigens in Caucasoid populations. However, the frequency of HLA-DR5 is too high in the normal Spanish population and JRA cannot thus be found to be associated with this antigen. It has been found a 14.3 kb-C4-Eco RI restriction fragment length polymorphism which correlates significantly with JRA and may be used as a marker for this disorder in Spaniards.