Abstract:

Objective To investigate the relationship between HLA-DRB1 alleles and chronic urticaria with positive autologous serum skin test （ASST） in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Methods ASST was conducted in 144 patients with chronic urticaria, who were subsequently divided into two groups according to the test result: positive group （n = 62） and negative group （n = 82）. PCR amplification with sequence-specific primers was used to determine the genotypes of HLA-DRB1 alleles in the patients and 199 normal human controls. Chi-square test was performed to analyse the difference in the frequency of HLA-DRB1 alleles between the 3 groups by using the SPSS 13.0 statistical software package. Results There were significant differences in the frequency of HLA-DRB1*01, *1401 and *16 alleles among the patients with positive and negative ASST and the controls （χ2 = 10.92, Pc = 0.032；χ2 = 35.34, Pc < 0.01；χ2 = 12.69, Pc = 0.032）. Paired comparison revealed significant differences in the frequency of HLA-DRB1*1401 allele between the patients with positive ASST and controls （RR = 17.09, Pc < 0.01） as well as between the patients with positive and negative ASST （RR = 7.20, Pc < 0.01）. Conclusion HLA-DRB1*1401 allele may be, or be linked to, the predisposing gene of chronic urticaria with positive ASST in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Key words: Autologous serum skin test