112GENETIC ASSOCIATION OF GLUTATHIONE-S-TRANSFERASE GENE POLYMORPHISMS IN BRONCHIAL ASTHMA PATIENTS: A STUDY IN NORTHERN INDIAThe glutathione S-transferase (GSTs) enzymes have a vital role in phase II of biotransformation of xenobiotics and in protection of cells from reactive oxygen species (ROS) by its ability to utilize substrates of a wide range of products of oxidative stress. Oxidative stress was reported to be the key component of inflammation. Inflammation was considered a characteristic of asthma disease when it attacked airways. So defect in detoxifying ROS may influence the development and severity of asthma. So we proposed that, GSTs gene polymorphisms may be associated with the susceptibility to Bronchial asthma patients in northern India population, (50 Bronchial asthma patients and 50 healthy controls) were genotyped by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Statistical analysis revealed that the frequency of homozygous GSTM1 null genotype was found to be lower in Bronchial asthma patients as compared with healthy controls (OR=0.585, CI,0.25-1.38;P=0.223), but there were no significant differences in the distribution of homozygous null GSTT1(OR=0.563,CI,0.23-1.39; P= 0.214) and also no significant difference in GSTP1 between Bronchial asthma patients and healthy controls (OR=0.932, CI, 0.36-2.53; P=0.884).Our study results suggest that all the GSTs polymorphism is not associated with genetic susceptibility to Bronchial asthma.dr.sabhattacharya@gmail.comResearch342012Polymorphisms,Xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes,Genetic susceptibility, Glutathione-S-TransferaseKumar C,Shukla RK,Kant S,Awasthi S,Bhattacharya SDepartment of Physiology, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (Erstwhile King George Medical college), UP, Lucknow - 226003, India,Department of Physiology, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (Erstwhile King George Medical college), UP, Lucknow - 226003, India,Department of Pulmonary Medicine2, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (Erstwhile King George Medical college), UP, Lucknow - 226003, India.,Department of Pediatrics3 Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (Erstwhile King George Medical college), UP, Lucknow - 226003, India.,Department of Physiology, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (Erstwhile King George Medical college), UP, Lucknow - 226003, India