Patent ID: 6387615
Filing Date: 2002-05-14
Classification: C07K,C12Q

Abstract:
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 TNF&agr; and LT&agr; genes in the TNF&agr;/LT&agr; 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 LT&agr; gene and allele 2 of the TNF promoter polymorphism at position âˆ’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.