Dk. Jin et al., COMPLEMENT-4 LOCUS-II GENE DELETION AND DQA1-ASTERISK-0301 GENE - GENETIC RISK-FACTORS FOR IGA NEPHROPATHY AND HENOCH-SCHONLEIN NEPHRITIS, Nephron, 73(3), 1996, pp. 390-395
There have been several reports suggesting that the deficiency of comp
lement 4 (C4) and/or deletion of C4 genes are the genetic risk factors
in patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) and Henoch-Schonlein nephriti
s (HSN). In the current study, we tried to clarify the genetic structu
re of deleted C4 genes as well as the isotype deficiency of the patien
ts. Also, we investigated the DQB and DRB genes which are located near
the C4 genes to identify a possible linkage and to find the associate
d allele, Our results showed that locus II deletion of C4, not the C4B
sequence loss, is a risk factor for these diseases and the deleted ge
ne can be either C4A or C4B, There was no specific isotype deficiency
or specific allotype which was significantly increased or decreased in
the patients. But, there was an increased frequency of DQA10301 gene
in the patient group (corrected p = 0.04), which suggests that DQA10
301 as well as C4 gene deletion could be genetic risk factors for thes
e diseases.