title: Allergic rhinitis and polymorphisms of the interleukin 1 gene complex.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Allergic rhinitis is a chronic inflammatory disease with a genetic background. Inflammatory reactions are regulated by cytokines. Cytokine genes are polymorphic and have been implicated as candidate genes in allergy.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study the significance of the interleukin 1 (IL-1) gene complex in allergic rhinitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based, cross-sectional study. We studied the polymorphisms of 3 IL-1 gene complex genes, IL1A (+4845G>T), IL1B (-511 degrees C>T), and IL1RN (variable number of tandem repeats; IVS2, 86 bp, duplicates 2 to 5), in patients with allergic rhinitis. The study group consisted of 405 nonasthmatic individuals of whom 56 had allergic rhinitis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The genotype distribution differed significantly in all cytokine genes studied between subjects with and without allergic rhinitis. The difference was mainly due to an increased number of IL1A allele G homozygotes (67.9% vs 43.2%; odds ratio [OR], 2.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5-5.1), IL1B heterozygotes (72.2% vs 47.4%; OR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.5-5.3), and IL1RN allele 2 homozygotes (18.5% vs 7.5%; OR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.3-6.2) in allergic rhinitis. Haplotype analysis revealed a significant difference in the distribution of IL-1 gene complex haplotypes between subjects with and without allergic rhinitis (P = 0.005, 10 df).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The IL-1 gene complex polymorphism is strongly associated with allergic rhinitis in nonasthmatic individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland. veli-pekka.joki-erkkila@nokianlaakariasema.fi
authors.forename: Veli-Pekka
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Joki-Erkkilä
authors.forename: Jussi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Karjalainen
authors.forename: Janne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hulkkonen
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pessi
authors.forename: Markku M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Nieminen
authors.forename: Arpo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aromaa
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Klaukka
authors.forename: Mikko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hurme
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006720:Homozygote; D006801:Humans; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D007375:Interleukin-1