title: A case-control study of innate immunity pathway gene polymorphisms in Puerto Ricans reveals association of toll-like receptor 2 +596 variant with asthma.
abstract: For many years, African Dust Storms (ADE) has been thought to be associated with high prevalence of asthma in Puerto Rico (PR). Endotoxins (ENX) have been associated with ADE particulate matter (PM) and are known to promote pro-inflammatory responses in lung cells of susceptible individuals through the Toll-like receptor (TLR2/4) signaling pathways. Genetic variants are plausible contributors to such susceptibility. Therefore, we have evaluated a series of nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TLR genes, which have been correlated positive and negatively to asthma prevalence and/or risk, in the Puerto Rican asthmatic population.
  
  
  
  The following SNPs were evaluated in 62 asthmatics and 61 controls through Taqman® Real Time PCR Assay: TLR4 (+896A/G, +1196C/T, -6687A/G); TLR2 (+596C/T, -16934 T/A, +399A/G, +1349C/T) and CD14 (-159C/T, +1188C/G). Genotypes were assessed for asthma association employing an odds ratio (OR) analysis.
  
  
  
  Minor allele frequencies (n = 123) were determined for those variants as 0.07, 0.06, 0.35, 0.35, 0.37, 0.29, 0.04, 0.35 and 0.11, respectively. Two (+596C/T, +399A/G) TLR2 SNPs showed to be more represented in the asthmatic group by 89 % and 65 %, respectively. TLR4 SNP +896A/G analysis revealed only 1 G/G genotype (2 %) on the asthmatic group. The CD14 SNPs were similarly represented in the Puerto Rican population. Only the TLR2 +596 SNP was found to be significantly associated to asthma (OR = 3.24 for CT, 2.71 for TT) and particularly to females.
  
  
  
  The identification of TLR SNPs will reveal potential candidates for gene-environment interactions in Puerto Ricans. As far as we know this is the first study to evaluate this type of TLR gene polymorphisms in Puerto Rican asthmatics, contributing to the current knowledge in the Hispanic population.
authors: Department of Biochemistry, University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus Main Bldg Lab B-210, San Juan, 00935, Puerto Rico, USA.|Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico at Humacao, Humacao, Puerto Rico, USA.|Center for Environmental and Toxicological Research, University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA.
authors: Mario G
authors: MG
authors: Ortiz-Martínez
authors: School of Public Health, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA.
authors: Orquídea
authors: O
authors: Frías-Belén
authors: Department of Allergy and Immunology and School of Medicine Clinics, University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA.
authors: Sylvette
authors: S
authors: Nazario-Jiménez
authors: Department of Internal Medicine and School of Medicine Clinics, University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, 00935, Puerto Rico, USA.
authors: María
authors: M
authors: López-Quintero
authors: Department of Biochemistry, University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus Main Bldg Lab B-210, San Juan, 00935, Puerto Rico, USA.|Center for Environmental and Toxicological Research, University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA.
authors: Rosa I
authors: RI
authors: Rodríguez-Cotto
authors: Department of Biochemistry, University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus Main Bldg Lab B-210, San Juan, 00935, Puerto Rico, USA. braulio.jimenez@upr.edu.|Center for Environmental and Toxicological Research, University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA. braulio.jimenez@upr.edu.
authors: Braulio D
authors: BD
authors: Jiménez-Vélez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000453:epidemiology; D051195:Toll-Like Receptor 2 / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C495342:TLR2 protein, human; D051195:Toll-Like Receptor 2
keywords: Asthma; Genotyping; Odds ratio; Puerto Ricans; Single nucleotide polymorphisms; Toll-like receptor 2 +596 variant; Toll-like receptors