Meta-analysis on interleukin-4 receptor α chain Q576R gene polymorphisms and bronchial asthma susceptibility

Abstract

to study the association between interleukin-4 receptor α chain (IL-4RA) Q576R polymorphisms and bronchial asthma susceptibility by Meta-analysis. four medical databases, including Pubmed, Embase, CNKI and Wanfang, were searched for the case-control studies about the IL-4RA polymorphisms and bronchial asthma susceptibility. Odds ratios (OR) of IL-4RA Q576R genotype distributions in asthma patients against healthy controls were analyzed in both RR vs QR + QQ model and QR + RR vs QQ model. Analyses were performed for asthma in general and for subgroups based on the atopy status of the asthma population. The sensitivity analysis and the publication bias tests were conducted. fifteen case-control studies, with 2675 asthma cases, 1202 atopic asthma cases and 331 nonatopic asthma cases respectively, were identified and all control group genotype frequencies were consistent with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. In genotype RR vs QR + QQ model no heterogeneity among the studies was found, while in genotype QR + RR vs QQ model, heterogeneity among these studies was found. These studies were analyzed by fixed-effect model (RR vs QR + QQ model) or random-effect model (QR + RR vs QQ model). The pooled odds ratio of IL-RA Q576R genotype RR vs QR + QQ was 2.02 (95%CI: 1.53 - 2.66), and the pooled odds ratio in this model in the atopic asthma subgroup was 2.26 (95%CI: 1.47 - 3.49), while the pooled odds ratio (QR + RR vs QQ model) was 1.02 (95%CI: 1.06 - 1.53). a meta-analysis of results from case-control studies strongly supports the conclusion that IL-4RA Q576R polymorphisms impart a modest yet significant risk for asthma.