OBJECTIVE:To study the relevance between HLA-B27 gene and ankylosing spondylitis in Jiangxi province,and to discuss the diagnostic significance to ankylosing spondylitis.METHODS:A total of 1246 patients with suspected ankylosing spondylitis and related diseases were collected from the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from October 2007 to December 2008.Among all cases,323 were diagnosed as ankylosing spondylitis,and other 923 were rheumatoid arthdtis or related diseases.A total of 135 healthy subjects were collected as control group.Sequence-specific primer-polymerase chain method(PCR-SSP)was used to detect HLA-B27 gene in 1246patients and 135 healthy controls.The distribution of HLA-B27 gene,correlation between HLA-B27 gene and age,and relation between ankylosing spondylitis and HLA-B27 gene were studied.RESULTS:Total positive rate of HLA-B27 gene was 32.5%in 1246 patients with suspected ankylosing spondylitis.3.7%in 135healthy controls.and 91.6%in 323 patients with ankylosing spondylitis,respectively.The positive rate and incidence rates of male were significantly higher than female(P＜0.01)and mainly concentrated in the age of adolescence.The sensitivity of HLA-B27 genewas 91.64%and the specificity was 88.19%in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.CONCLUSION:HLA-B27 gene was highly correlated with ankylosing spondylitis in Jiangxi province,which was the same as other regions,suggesting that HLA-B27 gene is significance for diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis in an eedy phase.