An immunogenetic study of 71 patients with essential hypertension associated with no signs of heart or renal failure, and 276 normal Russian male residents of Moscow demonstrated a significantly increased frequency of antigens HLA-B13 (p less than 0.01) and HLA-B22 (p less than 0.05), as well as HLA-A11 (p less than 0.05), in the hypertensive sample. Aggravated heredity (familial hypertension) was established in 64% of hypertensive carriers of antigens HLA-B13 and HLA-B22.