title: CD14 gene variants and their importance for childhood croup, atopy, and asthma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The CD14 gene has an important role in the detection of inflammatory provoking pathogens and in the ensuing signaling of the innate immune response. We assessed the role of CD14 C-159T, G-1359T in the expression of asthma, croup, and allergy in Canadian school children of ages 6 to 14 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children attending schools in a rural community participated in a cross-sectional survey of respiratory health. Following consent, we conducted clinical assessments to collect buccal swabs for genotyping and perform skin prick testing (SPT) to determine atopic status. Genotyping and SPT results were available for 533 and 499 children, respectively. Separate multivariable analyses that included both polymorphisms were conducted for each phenotype.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of asthma, allergy, and croup was 18.6%, 22.4%, and 6.6%, respectively. Children with the T/T variant of CD14 G-1359T were more likely to have physician diagnosed asthma (26.8%). Children with C/C variant of CD14 C-159T had a significantly lower prevalence of croup (2.6%). Haplotype analyses of the two CD14 polymorphisms showed that individuals with the T|T haplotype combination were significantly more likely to have asthma (P = 0.014).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, CD14 variants are important for the expression of croup and asthma but not atopy.
authors.affiliation: Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, University of Saskatchewan, P.O. BOX 23, 104 Clinic Place, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5E5 ; College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, University of Saskatchewan, 104 Clinic Place, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5E5.
authors.forename: Donna C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Rennie
authors.affiliation: Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, University of Saskatchewan, P.O. BOX 23, 104 Clinic Place, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5E5.
authors.forename: Chandima P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Karunanayake
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology & Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1H 8M5.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Kumamoto University, 2-40-1 Kurokami Chuo-ku, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.affiliation: Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, University of Saskatchewan, P.O. BOX 23, 104 Clinic Place, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5E5.
authors.forename: Punam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pahwa
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, 3-349 Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, 11405 87 Avenue, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 1C9.
authors.forename: Ambikaipakan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Senthilselvan
authors.affiliation: Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, University of Saskatchewan, P.O. BOX 23, 104 Clinic Place, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5E5.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Dosman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003440:Croup / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000235:genetics; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D018950:Lipopolysaccharide Receptors