Association between nasal allergy and a coding variant of the Fc epsilon-RI beta gene Glu237Gly in a Japanese population

The gene for the beta -chain of the high-affinity receptor for IgE (Fc epsi lon RI beta) has been proposed as a candidate gene for atopy. A coding vari ant Glu237Gly has been studied in various populations with asthma and atopy , and the results were controversial for association of the variant with at opy/asthma. Because nasal allergy is a more common atopic disease and shows less remission than asthma, we analyzed whether the Glu237Gly variant is c orrelated with nasal allergy. The study enrolled 233 patients with nasal al lergy and 100 control subjects. Further, three subgroups were selected: pat ients with perennial nasal allergy (n= 149), Japanese cedar pollinosis (n= 189). and allergy to multiple allergens (n=45). The allele frequency of Gly 237 in the controls and patients was 0.14 and 0.20, and the frequency of Gl y237-positive subjects was 0.23 and 0.356, respectively. There was a signif icant association between Gly237-positivity and nasal allergy, perennial na sal allergy, Japanese cedar pollinosis, and allergy to multiple allergens. Among all 333 subjects we observed a significant relationship between Gly23 7 and elevated levels of serum total IgE (>250 IU/ml) and very high IgE (>1 000 IU/ml). Among patients positive for a specific IgE, Gly237 was signific antly associated with high IgE for house dust, mite, and Japanese cedar pol len. These results suggest that the Glu237Gly variant of the Fc,Fc epsilon RI beta gene is involved in the development of nasal allergy through the pr ocess for the production of both specific and nonspecific IgE antibodies.