ATOPY: DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPY

摘要

The invention relates to a method for diagnosing an individual as having atopy or a predisposition thereto. The method involves demonstrating in the individual the presence or absence of either: (i) an unusual variant form of the gene which codes for the beta sub-unit of the high affinity receptor for IgE (FcRI.beta.), the variant form comprising a variation in exon (7) which encodes a glycine at amino acid residue 237 instead of glutamic acid which appears at residue 237 in individuals without atopy; or (ii) an unusual polymorphic form of the amino acid sequence for FcRI.beta., the polymorphic form comprising glycine at amino acid residue 237 instead of glutamic acid which appears at residue 237 in individuals without atopy. Materials and other methods relating to the above diagnostic method are also described.