Allergy, the most frequentimmune disorder affecting 30% of the world’s population, is the consequence ofimmunoglobin E(IgE) sensitization to allergens. Among the genetic factors suspected to be involved inallergy, the HLA class-IIgenomic region is a strong candidate.
To assess the association between HLA class-II alleles and specific IgE (sIgE) sensitization to alarge number of respiratory allergen molecules.
The analysis relied on 927participants of the EGEA cohort, including 497 asthmatics. The study focuses on 26 aeroallergens recognized by sIgEin at least 5% of the study population (determined with the MEDALL chip with sIgE≥0.3 ISU) and 23 imputed HLA class-II alleles. For each sIgE sensitization and HLA class-II allele, we fitted a logistic regression model accounting for familial dependence and adjusted for gender, age and genetic principal components.P-values were corrected for multiple comparisons (False Discovery Rate).
Most of the 19 statisticallysignificant associations observedregard pollen allergens (mugwort Art v1, olive tree Ole e 1, timothy grass Phl p2, Phl p5 and plantainPla l1), 3 were mold allergen (Alternaria Alt a 1) and a single one regards house dust mite allergen (Der p7). No association was observed withpet allergens.The strongest associations were found withmugwortArt v1 (OR=5.42 (95%CI, 3.30;8.88), 4.14 (2.65;6.47), 3.16 (1.88;5.31) with DQB1*05:01, DQA1*01:01 and DRB1*01:01respectively).
Our results support the important role of HLA class-II alleles as immune response genes predisposingtheir carriers for sensitization to various major pollen allergens.
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Associations between specific IgE sensitization to 26 respiratory allergen molecules and HLA class II alleles in the EGEA cohort.
