title: Association between surfactant protein A gene locus and severe respiratory syncytial virus infection in infants.
abstract: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes seasonal epidemics of bronchiolitis among susceptible infants. Surfactant protein A (SP-A), a lung C-type lectin involved in innate host defense, opsonizes RSV and enhances phagocytosis. The candidate gene approach was used to investigate association of SP-A polymorphism with susceptibility to severe RSV infection. Genotype analysis was done for 86 infants with severe RSV infection and 95 matched control subjects. A significant difference in the frequency of SP-A2 was observed. The SP-A2 allele 1A(3) was overrepresented in RSV-infected infants, compared with control subjects (5% vs. 0.5%; P =.006), whereas allele 1A was underrepresented (1% vs. 6%; P =.011). The allele pool in which lysine was amino acid 223 was overrepresented in infants with severe RSV infection (28% vs. 18%; P =.023), whereas the allele pool in which proline was amino acid 99 was underrepresented (5% vs. 16%; P =.001). These results indicate that a genetic association exists between SP-A gene locus and severe RSV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, FIN-90014 Finland. johann.lofgren@oulu.fi
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Löfgren
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rämet
authors.forename: Marjo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Renko
authors.forename: Riitta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marttila
authors.forename: Mikko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hallman
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011510:Proteolipids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D037662:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A; D037661:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Proteins; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D018357:Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D011510:Proteolipids; D037662:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A; D037661:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Proteins; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants; C445843:SFTPA2 protein, human