association of hla-class ii and ige serum levels in pediatric asthma

background: pediatric bronchial asthma is associated with considerable morbidity. the study was carried out to examine the association of human leukocyte antigen (hla)- class ii with the disease as we found no similar study on asian indian population. objective: to define the hla-class ii antigens in asian indian pediatric patients with asthma. methods: a total of 103 children with asthma and 152 controls were analysed for hla class ii (drb1, dqb1and dpb1) by pcr-ssp (sequence specific primers) method. total serum ige levels were determined by elisa assay. results: a positive family history was recorded in 59 patients (57%) and 13 (8.5%) of healthy controls. serum ige levels were more than normal range in 72% of the patients and 33% of healthy subjects with mean values of 4877 and 627 iu/ml, respectively. drb1*04 and dqb1*03 showed significant positive relations while drb1*15 showed a negative association with asthma. dqb1*02 was more common in healthy individuals but was not statistically significant. conclusions: a positive association of the dr4/dqb1*03 and a negative association of drb1*15 was seen with extrinsic bronchial asthma. however, more studies are required on larger populations to confirm the association of hla class ii alleles in indians before a particular allele can be labeled as being protective or causative for asthma.