Histamine plays a major role in allergic disorders, including asthma. A major pathway of histamine biotransformation in the lungs is mediated by histamine N-methyltransferase (HNMT). We investigated the association of a functional SNP C314T; a SNP A929G, a (CA) n repeat in intron 5, and a novel (CA) n repeat (BV677277), 7.5 kb downstream of the HNMT gene with asthma and its associated traits such as total serum IgE levels in a case-control as well as in a family-based study design. In contrast to a previous study, no association was observed for the polymorphisms investigated with asthma (P>0.05). When haplotypes were constructed for these loci and compared, no significant difference was observed in the distribution between cases and controls. In the family-based design, no biased transmission was observed for any of the polymorphisms and haplotypes with asthma using the additive model of inheritance in family-based association test (FBAT). Thus, consistent with the case-control findings, the polymorphisms and haplotypes in the HNMT gene are not associated with asthma in the Indian population.

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