Major Histocompatibility Complex and Tumor Necrosis Factor- α Polymorphisms in Pigeon Breeder's Disease

Pigeon breeders disease (PBD) is caused by the exposure of a susceptible host to avian antigens. However, genetic factors determining individual predisposition are unknown. In this work, polymorphisms of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II alleles and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF- α ) promoter were evaluated in 44 patients with PBD, 99 healthy unrelated controls (HC), and 50 exposed but asymptomatic subjects (EAS). MHC typing was performed by PCR-specific sequence oligonucleotide analysis, and TNF- α polymorphism at − 238 and − 308 positions by amplification refractory mutation system-PCR. PBD patients showed a significant increase of the alleles HLA-DRB1*1305 (p < 0.001, OR = 15.4, 95% CI = 3.18–102.6 [HC], and OR = 17.05, 95% CI = 2.25–357.8 [EAS]) and HLA-DQB1*0501 (p < 0.05, OR = 2.93, 95% CI = 1.21–7.15 [HC], and OR = 2.96, 95% CI = 1.0–9.14 [EAS]). A decrease of HLA-DRB1*0802 was also noticed in patients when compared with both control groups (p < 0.05). Haplotype analysis reveal...