Gold therapy for bronchial asthma : serum immunoglobulin levels and HLA typing

In order to clarify the mechanism of action of gold salt for bronchial asthma, HLA typing and serum immunoglbulin levels were determind on 27 patients with bronchial asthma, which consisted of 15 patients who showed good response (responder group, RG), and 12 patients who did not show any response (non-responder group, nRG) Although the gold therapy reduced serum levels of IgE, IgG, and IgA significantly, there was no significant difference in reduction of serum immunoglobulin levels between RG and nRG. HLA typing of RG ervealed significantly increased frequencies of HLA-A26, Bw61, DR 4 and DRw 9, and decreased frequencies of HLA-A 9, A11, B 7, Bw61, andDR 2 compared with those of normal controls. However, nRG had significantly increased frequencies of HLA-A 11, B 7, Bw61, and DR 2, and decreased frequencies of HLA-A 9, A26, Cw 3 DR 4 and DRw 9, compared with normal controls. The frequencies of HLA-DRw 9 and HLA-B 7 increased significantly in RG and nRG, respectively. This data suggested that the gold salt functioned as an immunomodulator, and the difference between RG and nRG of gold thrapy for bronchial asthma may reflect in genetic susceptibility.