Lack of Association Between HMGB1 Gene Polymorphism and Risk of Henoch–Schönlein Purpura in Childhood

Background: High-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1), a nuclear protein, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Henoch- Schönlein purpura (HSP). In a Chinese child population, the correlation between susceptibility to HSP and genetic variation in the HMGB1 gene and also the relationship between HMGB1 gene polymorphism and clinical heterogeneity of HSP were investigated. Methods: We analyzed two HMGB1 tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; rs3742305 and rs9508752) in 182 HSP patients and 202 healthy controls using the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry method. Results: There were no significant differences between HSP patients and controls in the frequency of alleles, genotypes, and haplotypes of HMGB1 SNPs. In addition, there was a slight association between HMGB1 gene polymorphisms and the clinical manifestations of HSP. Conclusions: It is suggested that the variation of the HMGB1 gene was not highly correlated with the susceptibility of Chinese children to HSP.