title: Variants of alpha 1-antitrypsin in Puerto Rican children with asthma.
abstract: A survey of 393 Puerto Rican and 354 non-Hispanic pediatric patients at Beth Israel Hospital, New York, revealed a significantly larger percentage of asthmatic subjects among Puerto Ricans, confirming findings of a study of Puerto Rican adults in New York. Assays of alpha 1-antitrypsin (AAT) concentration and phenotypes in 61 Puerto Rican asthmatic children revealed a significantly larger number with an S or Z variant in AAT phenotype. The AAT concentration was not a significant variable in this relationship, since four of five subjects with intermediate deficient AAT concentrations and a PiM phenotype were among control nonasthmatic Puerto Rican subjects. A family history of asthma was more common among asthmatic than control subjects and was most common for variant AAT phenotypes in either asthmatic or control subjects. We speculate that the S or Z variant of AAT affects the inflammatory response in such a way as to predispose to asthma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ambulatory Care, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Colp
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pappas
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moran
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lieberman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D010641:Phenotype; D015995:Prevalence; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000208:ethnology; D000515:alpha 1-Antitrypsin / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000515:alpha 1-Antitrypsin