A genome-wide association study for allergen component sensitizations identifies allergen component–specific and allergen protein group–specific associations

BACKGROUND: Allergic diseases are some of the most common diseases worldwide. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have been conducted to elucidate the genetic factors of allergic diseases. However, no GWASs for allergen component sensitization have been performed. OBJECTIVE: We sought to detect genetic variants associated with differences in immune responsiveness against allergen components. METHODS: The participants of the present study were recruited from the Tokyo Children’s Health, Illness, and Development study, and allergen component–specific IgE level at age 9 years was measured by means of allergen microarray immunoassays. We performed GWASs for allergen component sensitization against each allergen (single allergen component sensitization, number of allergen components analyzed, n = 31), as well as against allergen protein families (allergen protein group sensitization, number of protein groups analyzed, n = 16). RESULTS: We performed GWAS on 564 participants of the Tokyo Children’s Health, Illness, and Development study and found associations between Amb a 1 sensitization and the immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable gene on chromosome 14 and between Phl p 1 sensitization and the HLA class II region on chromosome 6 (P < 5.0 × 10(−8)). A GWAS-significant association was also observed between the HLA class II region and profilin sensitization (P < 5.0 × 10(−8)). CONCLUSIONS: Our data provide the first demonstration of genetic risk for allergen component sensitization and show that this genetic risk is related to immune response genes including immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable gene and HLA.