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Human leukocyte antigen class II variants and adult-onset asthma: does occupational allergen exposure play a role?

Smit, L.A.M., Strachan, D.P., Vermeulen, R., Bakker, P.I.W. de, Demenais, F., Dumas, O., Carsin, A.E., Cullinan, P., Curjuric, I., Ghosh, R.E., Heederik, D., Imboden, M., Jarvis, D., Lathrop, M., Moual, N. le, Mehta, A., Miedinger, D., Sigsgaard, T., Siroux, V., Vernez, D., Zock, J.P., Kauffmann, F., Probst-Hensch, N., Kogevinas, M., Bouzigon, E. Human leukocyte antigen class II variants and adult-onset asthma: does occupational allergen exposure play a role? European Respiratory Journal: 2014, 44(5), p. 1234-1242.
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Recently, a locus centred on rs9273349 in the HLA-DQ region emerged from genome-wide association studies of adult-onset asthma. We aimed to further investigate the role of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II in adult-onset asthma and a possible interaction with occupational exposures. We imputed classical HLA-II alleles from 7579 single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 6025 subjects (1202 with adult-onset asthma) from European cohorts: ECRHS, SAPALDIA, EGEA and B58C, and from surveys of bakers and agricultural workers. Based on an asthma-specific job–exposure matrix, 2629 subjects had ever been exposed to high molecular weight (HMW) allergens. We explored associations between 23 common HLA-II alleles and adult-onset asthma, and tested for gene–environment interaction with occupational exposure to HMW allergens. Interaction was also tested for rs9273349. Marginal associations of classical HLA-II alleles and adult-onset asthma were not statistically significant. Interaction was detected between the DPB1*03:01 allele and exposure to HMW allergens (p = 0.009), in particular to latex (p = 0.01). In the unexposed group, the DPB1*03:01 allele was associated with adult-onset asthma (OR 0.67, 95%CI 0.53–0.86). HMW allergen exposures did not modify the association of rs9273349 with adult-onset asthma. Common classical HLA-II alleles were not marginally associated with adult-onset asthma. The association of latex exposure and adult-onset asthma may be modified by DPB1*03:01. (aut.ref.)