Methods and materials for the diagnosis or prognosis of asthma
AssigneeIsis Innovation Limited
InventorsWilliam Osmond Charles Michael Cookson, Miriam Fleur Moffatt
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to a method for diagnosing an individual as being asthmatic, or of having a predisposition to asthma, and a kit therefor, which method comprises demonstrating in the individual the presence or absence of an unusual variant form of a polynucleotide sequence in the MHC region of chromosome 6p, said unusual variant form being associated with an increased secretion of TNF.
Claims15
A method for diagnosing an individual with asthma or an individual with a predisposition to asthma, said method comprising detecting in the individual the presence of an unusual variant form of at least one polymorphic sequence located in the regulatory regions for the TNFα and LTα genes in the TNFα/LTα locus of the MHC region of chromosome 6p, wherein the unusual variant form is selected from the group consisting of allele 1 of the NcoI polymorphism in the LTα gene and allele 2 of the TNF promoter polymorphism at position −308, said unusual variant form being associated with an increased secretion of TNF, and the presence of said unusual variant form being indicative of an individual with asthma or an individual with a predisposition to asthma.
A method for the prognosis of asthma in an individual, said method comprising detecting in the individual the presence of an unusual variant form of at least one polymorphic sequence located in the regulatory regions for the TNFα and LTα genes in the TNFα/LTα locus of the MHC region of chromosome 6p, wherein the unusual variant form is selected from the group consisting of allele 1 of the NcoI polymorphism in the LTα gene and allele 2 of the TNF promoter polymorphism at position −308, said unusual variant form being associated with an increased secretion of TNF, and the presence of said unusual variant form being indicative of the prognosis of asthma in the individual.
A method of testing an asthmatic individual's suitability for treatment with anti-TNF therapy, said method comprising detecting in the individual the presence of an unusual variant form of at least one polymorphic sequence located in the regulatory regions for the TNFα and LTα genes in the TNFα/LTα locus of the MHC region of chromosome 6p, wherein the unusual variant form is selected from the group consisting of allele 1 of the NcoI polymorphism in the LTα gene and allele 2 of the TNF promoter polymorphism at position −308, said unusual variant form being associated with an increased secretion of TNF, and the presence of said unusual variant form being indicative of the asthmatic individual's suitability for treatment with anti-TNF therapy.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.