CD14 gene polymorphism is not associated with asthma but rather with bronchial obstruction and hyperreactivity in Slovenian children with non-atopic asthma.
BACKGROUND
Though the associations of CD14 with asthma have already been studied, the results of different independent studies are in conflict, mostly due to differences in the pathogenesis of varying asthma sub-phenotypes. The aim of our study was to perform an association analysis of promoter single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) -159C/T (rs2569190) in the CD14 gene for Slovenian children with asthma.


METHODS
We analyzed SNP -159C/T in a group of all asthmatics, and separately in a group of atopic and non-atopic asthmatics. We also analyzed the influence of SNP -159C/T on clinical parameters and the response to therapy with inhaled corticosteroids. We have genotyped 247 children with asthma and a median age of 11 years (interquartile range, 5 years), and 158 healthy controls with a median age of 13 years (interquartile range, 5 years). We performed genotyping using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis.


RESULTS
We found that SNP -159C/T in CD14 is not associated with asthma in Slovenian children. However, non-atopic asthmatics with CT or TT genotypes have a lower FEV1/FVC ratio as a measure of bronchial obstruction (87.4%, compared to 91.8% in patients with the CC genotype, p = 0.017). Non-atopic asthmatics with CC or CT genotypes also have increased bronchial hyperreactivity measured by PC20 of methacholine (0.41 mg/ml, compared to 1.50 mg/ml in patients with a TT genotype, p = 0.018).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that CD14 is associated with asthma severity in Slovenian children with non-atopic asthma.
Faculty of Medicine, Center for Human Molecular Genetics and Pharmacogenomics, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.
Petra
P
Perin
Vojko
V
Berce
Uros
U
Potocnik
D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology
D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors; D007073:Immunoglobulin E