title: IL15 gene variants are not associated with asthma and atopy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Interleukin 15 (IL15) promotes activation and proliferation of CD8+ T cells and enhances the differentiation into Th2 cells. A previous study described five polymorphisms in the IL15 gene to be associated with asthma in a haplotype analysis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We selected HapMap tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from IL15 to systematically investigate these IL15 associations in a large population-based sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  Genotyping of seven IL15 SNPs was performed using MALDI-TOF MS in a cross-sectional study population of 3099 children from Dresden or Munich (age 9-11 years). All children were phenotyped by standardized and validated protocols for atopic phenotypes. Effects of single SNPs and haplotypes were studied using sas 9.1.3 and haploview. Equivalence tests were performed to prove the significance of negative results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Neither single IL15 polymorphisms nor haplotype analyses showed associations with asthma or atopy after correction for multiple testing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results do not confirm previous case-control studies and suggest that IL15 gene variants do not play an important role in the development for asthma or other atopic disorders.
authors.affiliation: University Children's Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian's University Munich, München, Germany.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Depner
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Steudemann
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Klopp
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Illig
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: von Mutius
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kabesch
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000235:genetics*; D019409:Interleukin-15 / Q000235:genetics*; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D010641:Phenotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
chemical_list: D019409:Interleukin-15