No evidence for association between the -112G/A polymorphism of UGRP1 and childhood atopic asthma.
BACKGROUND
Susceptibility to asthma is known to involve genetic factors. Genome-wide screens have indicated that the chromosome 5q31-q34 region is linked to and/or associated with asthma. A new gene, named UGRP1 and reported by Niimi et al., encodes uteroglobin-related protein and is expressed in the lung and trachea. Niimi et al. showed the -112G/A polymorphism of the UGRP1 gene to be associated with asthma in a case-control study.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of the present study was to replicate this association and confirm the possible role of the UGRP1-112G/A polymorphism in the aetiology of childhood asthma in a Japanese population.


RESULTS
We conducted a transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) in 131 families identified through paediatric patients being treated for asthma. A case-control study was also carried out by comparing the probands and 137 unrelated non-atopic non-asthmatic Japanese children and 211 unrelated healthy Japanese adults. The -112G/A polymorphism was genotyped by the PCR-RFLP method. The TDT revealed that the -112A allele was not preferentially transmitted to asthma-affected children (P=0.85). Neither the presence of at least one A allele in an individual's genotype (sum of the G/A and A/A genotypes) nor the -112A allele was more prevalent among the asthma subjects than among the control subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings indicate that the UGRP1-112G/A polymorphism does not play a substantial role in genetic predisposition to childhood asthma in this Japanese population.
Jian
Z
Z
Department of Medical Genetics, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Nakayama
J
J
Noguchi
E
E
Shibasaki
M
M
Arinami
T
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic