title: Variation in genes encoding eosinophil granule proteins in atopic dermatitis patients from Germany.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Atopic dermatitis (AD) is believed to result from complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. A main feature of AD as well as other allergic disorders is serum and tissue eosinophilia. Human eosinophils contain high amounts of cationic granule proteins, including eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN), eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) and major basic protein (MBP). Recently, variation in genes encoding eosinophil granule proteins has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of allergic disorders. We therefore genotyped selected single nucleotide polymorphisms within the ECP, EDN, EPO and MBP genes in a cohort of 361 German AD patients and 325 healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Genotype and allele frequencies did not differ between patients and controls for all polymorphisms investigated in this study. Haplotype analysis did not reveal any additional information.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We did not find evidence to support an influence of variation in genes encoding eosinophil granule proteins for AD pathogenesis in this German cohort.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany. qumar.parwez@t-online.de
authors.forename: Qumar
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Parwez
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stemmler
authors.forename: Jörg T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Epplen
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hoffjan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D047150:Eosinophil Cationic Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D047091:Eosinophil Granule Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D047093:Eosinophil Major Basic Protein / Q000235:genetics; D047209:Eosinophil Peroxidase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D047208:Eosinophil-Derived Neurotoxin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D047091:Eosinophil Granule Proteins; D047209:Eosinophil Peroxidase; D047208:Eosinophil-Derived Neurotoxin; D047150:Eosinophil Cationic Protein; D047093:Eosinophil Major Basic Protein