Abstract: Objective To investigate the relationship of human leukocyte antigen （HLA）-A, B alleles to psoriatic arthritis （PsA） and its clinical subtypes in Chinese Han population from Shandong Province. Methods Polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific oligonucleotide probe （PCR-SSOP） method was used to determine HLA-A, B alleles in 42 consecutive PsA patients and 90 healthy human controls of Han Nationality from Shandong Province. Results A significant increase was observed in the frequencies of HLA-B*27 （11% vs 1.8%, P < 0.01）, B*57（4.8% vs 0.4%, P < 0.01） alleles and B*13/B*27 heterozygote （8.5% vs 0.5%, P < 0.01） in PsA patients than those in the healthy controls, together with a decreased frequency of A*33 allele（0.6% vs 6.7%, P < 0.001）. In PsA patients, there was a significant difference in the frequency of B*27 allele between patients with spine involvement and those without （80% vs 22%, P < 0.01）, as well as between those with peripheral enthesis involvement and those without （63% vs 23%, P < 0.05）. Spondylitis incorporating peripheral arthritis was noted in 5 out of 7 patients positive for HLA B*13/B*27 heterozygote, compared to 8 out of 36 negative for HLA B*13/B*27 heterozygote （χ2 = 6.73, P < 0.05）. Conclusion The HLA-B*27 allele is correlated with PsA in Chinese Han population from Shandong Province.