[Relationship between heat shock protein 70-hom gene polymorphism and ankylosing spondylitis].

Objective: To investigate the association between heat shock protein 70-hom (HSP70-hom) gene polymorphism and ankylosing spondylitis(AS) in Chinese Han patients.

Methods: Genomic DNA from 98 Chinese AS patients and 70 ethnically matched controls were typed for HSP70-hom polymorphism by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism.

Results: The HSP70-hom genotypes in the AS patients consisted of homozygote AA (60.2%) and BB(4.1%), and heterozygote(35.7%), while the HSP70-hom genotypes in the controls were composed of AA(58.6%), BB(2.9%) and heterozygote(38.6%). No significant difference was found in the distribution of HSP70-hom genotype between these two groups(chi(2) test=0.280, P>0.05). The frequencies of HSP70-hom alleles in AS patients were 77.9%(AA) and 22.1%(BB), while they were 78.1% and 21.9% in the controls. The frequency of HSP70-hom allele in AS patients was not significantly increased, compared with that in controls (chi(2) test=0.002, P>0.05).

Conclusion: There may be no association between the HSP70-hom gene polymorphism and ankylosing spondylitis in Chinese Han population.