Association of TNF-alpha and IL-13 genes polymorphisms with bronchial asthma

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To assess the association of polymorphisms of TNF-alpha gene (rs1799724, rs1800630, rs1799964 and rs769178) and IL-13 gene (rs2158177 and rs1295687) with susceptibility to asthma among ethnic Chinese in Qingdao region. METHODS For 400 asthma patients and 200 healthy subjects, above polymorphisms were detected with a SNaPshot method. RESULTS For rs2158177, the frequency of genotype of GG in the asthma group was significantly lower than the control group (2.8% vs. 5%, OR = 0.31, 95%CI: 0.12-0.82, P = 0.021). No significant difference was detected in the genotypic frequencies for the remaining 5 polymorphisms between the two groups (All P > 0.05). CONCLUSION The study has indicated that rs2158177 polymorphism of the IL-13 gene is associated with asthma in ethnic Han Chinese from Qingdao. No association has been found between polymorphisms of TNF-alpha gene with susceptibility to asthma.