Genetic restrictions in olive pollen allergy.

Background: The major antigen of olive tree pollen, Ole e 1, produces an IgE response restricted by DQ2.

Objective: Our purpose was to further analyze the genetic restrictions associated with IgE and IgG antibodies against Ole e 1 and IgE against the recently described antigen Ole e 3.

Methods: Twenty-two nuclear olive pollen-allergic families (n = 88) were selected. DRB1 and DQB1, TCR-Valpha 8.1, the high-affinity receptor of IgE (FcepsilonRI-beta) Rsa I exon 7 and intron 2 and TNF-beta (LTalpha-Nco I) polymorphisms were determined by PCR and analyzed for association with allergic traits by the multiallelic transmission disequilibrium test.

Results: Significant associations were found among HLA-DQB1*0201 (n = 29) and high levels of IgG (P =.023) and IgE (P =.0136) antibodies to Ole e 1 and with IgE specific to Ole e 3 (P =.0368). DRB1*0701 was associated with high levels of total serum IgE (P =.04) and IgG against Ole e 1 (P =.025). The FcepsilonRI-beta Rsa I exon 7, allele 1 (n = 39), was associated with high levels of total serum IgE (P =. 01), IgE antibodies against Olea europaea extract (P =.004), and specific antibodies to Ole e 1, IgG (P =.04), and IgE (P =.006). The FcepsilonRI-beta Rsa I intron 2, allele 2 (n = 33), was associated with IgE antibodies to O europaea extract (P =.003) and specific antibodies to Ole e 1, IgG (P =.025), and IgE (P =.05).

Conclusions: We found a new association between IgE antibody response to Ole e 3 and DQB1*0201 and verified the previously reported association between Ole e 1-specific response and DQB1*0201. Also, the association between FcepsilonRI-beta and IgE antibodies against Ole e 1 was demonstrated.