title: The -590C/T and -34C/T interleukin-4 promoter polymorphisms are not associated with atopic eczema in childhood.
abstract: Susceptibility to the development of asthma and other atopic diseases is known to have a genetic component. To date, several studies have linked chromosome 5q31 to asthma and atopy in human beings. This region harbors a cluster of cytokine and growth factor genes, IL-4 presenting as a prime atopy candidate gene, inasmuch as it plays a pivotal role in the atopy pathway. Our approach was to identify polymorphisms within the promoter regions of IL-4 and test their association with atopic eczema. Polymorphisms were typed in a cohort of 76 small nuclear families and 25 triads with childhood atopic eczema. The genotypes were used to test for linkage in the presence of association with atopic eczema. A new polymorphism, -34C/T, was identified and studied with a known polymorphism, -590C/T. On its own, each polymorphism showed no association with atopic eczema. The 2 polymorphisms were used to generate haplotypes, and a significant result was found for the -590C/-34C haplotype. However, after Bonferroni correction for multiple testing, the association became nonsignificant. Neither polymorphism predisposes to early-onset atopic eczema by itself, but suggestive linkage was found for the -590C/-34C haplotype in this study.
authors.affiliation: Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fitzpatrick
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chee
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fulcher
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kemp
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Varigos
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bahlo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Forrest
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002895:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5 / Q000235:genetics; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000235:genetics*; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D015847:Interleukin-4