Effect of β2 -adrenergic receptor gene Arg16Gly polymorphisms on response to long-acting β2-agonist in Chinese Han asthmatic patients.
BACKGROUND
To evaluate the effect of variation of the Arg16Gly polymorphism of the β2-adrenergic receptor gene on clinical response to salmeterol administered with fluticasone propionate in Chinese Han asthmatic patients.


METHODS
Moderate persistent asthmatic patients (n = 62) currently receiving short-acting β2-agonists were administered twice-daily therapy with salmeterol/fluticasone propionate 50/250 μg in a single inhaler for 12 weeks, followed by a 2-to-4-day run-out period. Using direct DNA sequencing, five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter and coding block regions of β2-adrenergic receptor gene were determined in 62 subjects and haplotypes were combined.


RESULTS
There was sustained and significant improvement (p < 0.001) over baseline in all measures of asthma control in subjects receiving salmeterol and fluticasone, regardless of Arg16Gly genotype. However, there was no significant difference in the improvement among three genotypes (p > 0.05). Responses to salmeterol did not appear to be modified by haplotype pairs (p > 0.05). During the run-out period, all subjects had similar decreases in measures of asthma control, with no differences between genotypes (p > 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Response to salmeterol does not vary with Arg16Gly polymorphisms after chronic dosing with inhaled corticosteroids in Chinese Han asthmatic patients.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Drum Tower (Gulou) Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University Medical School, 321 Zhongshan Road, Nanjing 210008, China.
Yuying
Y
Qiu
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Drum Tower (Gulou) Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University Medical School, 321 Zhongshan Road, Nanjing 210008, China.
Deping
D
Zhang
Department of Non-Communicable Chronic Disease Control, Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 172 Jiangsu Road, Nanjing 210009, China.
Yu
Y
Qin
Department of Respiratory Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing 210029, China.
Kai-Sheng
KS
Yin
Asthma; Fluticasone propionate; Genotype; Long-acting β2-agonist; Polymorphism; Salmeterol; β2-adrenergic receptor