Asthma is a hyperresponsive airway disease that may involve inflammation responses. A transporter associated with the antigen processing 1 gene (TAP1) is involved in antigen processing, and is therefore considered to play a role in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma. The aim of this study was to test whether the polymorphisms of the TAP1 gene are a genetic marker for susceptibility to bronchial asthma. A normal control group comprised of 43 healthy people, and 116 patients with allergic asthma were examined in this study. The polymorphism was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based restriction analysis. Associations between atopic bronchial asthma and TAP1 polymorphisms were evaluated. The results revealed no significant differences between normal individuals and asthmatics in regard to the TAP1 gene DpnII polymorphism (P=0.752). However, there was a significant difference between the control and asthma groups as regards the TAP1 gene AccI polymorphism (P=0.020). The odds ratio (OR) of GG homozygotes of the TAP1 AccI polymorphism was 229.8 compared with the AA homozygote group. The results show that the AccI polymorphism may be an indicator for atopic bronchial asthma.
Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.