Association study between vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms and asthma in the Chinese Han population: a case-control study.
BACKGROUND
Modulation of the immune system is one of the principal roles of Vitamin D, for which the effects are exerted via the vitamin D receptor (VDR). Importantly, variants in the VDR gene have been susceptible in the past to raise the risk of asthma in several populations. These effects of VDR allelic markers remain speculative in the Chinese Han population.


RESULTS
A case-control study of 1090 individuals including 567 asthmatic patients was realized on five SNPs within the VDR gene. Only rs7975232 (ApaI) marker showed a significant association with asthma (P = 0.009). Haplotype analysis of the five VDR polymorphisms showed a significant association with asthma (global-p value = 0.012).


CONCLUSIONS
Although the susceptibility of VDR gene variants with asthma could not be confirmed for all SNPs tested in this study, the significant association obtained for rs7975232 provides evidence for a previously unknown report about the Chinese Han population and may raise the susceptibility of VDR to be a candidate gene for asthma.
Saadi
Ahlem
A
Key Laboratory for Experimental Teratology of the Ministry of Education, Department of Medical Genetics, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, PR China. ahlem_sa@hotmail.com
Gao
Guimin
G
Li
Huaichen
H
Wei
Chunhua
C
Gong
Yaoqin
Y
Liu
Qiji
Q
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D001249:Asthma / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
D018167:Receptors, Calcitriol