To investigate the relationship between human leukocyte antigen (HLA)- DQA1, -DQB1 genes polymorphism and susceptibility to bronchial asthma among the Hans in the northern China.Sequence-specific primer polymerase chain reaction was used to gene frequencies of HLA-DQA1 and HLA-DQB1 genes among 125 unrelated asthmatics, 12 of which being probands of asthmatic pedigrees, and 96 healthy controls, all of Han nationality and living in Beijing or nearby areas for a long time. Radioimmunosorbent test was used to examine the serum IgE and TigE. The ventilatory function was test among the asthmatics.The frequencies of HLA-DQA1 0104 and HLA-DQB1 0201 were 0.204 and 0.284, significantly higher than those in the healthy controls (0.089 and 0.096 respectively, both P < 0.01). Conversely, the frequencies of HLA-DQA10301 and HLA DQB101301 in the asthmatics were 0.148 and 0.20, significantly lower than those in the controls (0.25 and 0.282 respectively, P < 0.01 and < 0.05). The correlation coefficients between HLA-DQA1 * 0104 and atopy, HLA-DQB1 * 0201 and atopy, and HLA-DQA1 * 0301 and atopy were 0.813 (P < 0.01), 0.289 (P < 0.01), and -0.168 (P < 0.05) respectively. Multi-variate logistic regression asthma.The alleles HLA-DQA1 * 0104 and HLA-DQB1 * 0201 are correlated with the susceptibility to asthma among Northern of Han nationality. HLA-DQA1 * 0104 is an independent risk factor of onset of asthma. The alleles HLA-DQA1 * 0301 and HLA-DQB10301 are correlated with resistance against asthma. HLA-DQ genes are involved in the regulation of human specific immune responses.