NO EVIDENCE FOR THE
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN GENETIC POLYMORPHISM OF THE INTERLEUKIN-4 GENE PROMOTER
AND CLINICAL PHENOTYPES IN CHILDHOOD ASTHMA IN CHINA
Zhang JL1,
Chen H2, Hu LP3, Fu J1, Zhang HQ1,
Chen YZ1
1 Capital
Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, China
2 Chinese
Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
3 Chinese
Military Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
Objective: To study the genetic
association of interleukin-4 (IL-4) gene promoter polymorphism and asthma
susceptibility in childhood asthma in china, and to investigate possible
associations with clinical phenotypes of asthma.
Methods: One hundred
and sixty-eight unrelated childhood asthma cases and 70 normal control
children were studied. The total serum IgE、prick skin test (PST) to
20 common allergens and FEV1 were measured as clinical criteria. The polymorphism
(T or C at position-589) in the promoter region of the IL-4 gene was
genotyped by polymerase chain reaction and restriction endonuclease
digestion.
Results: The allele
frequency of IL-4 promoter polymorphism was markedly different from those
published results of Caucasian、Japanese and African
American patients. There was no significant difference in the allele or
genotype frequency between asthmatic patients and controls. No associations
were founded between the promoter polymorphism site and the level of total
serum IgE、FEV1 and PST .
Conclusion: We are unable
to confirm that the IL-4 promoter gene is crucial to the susceptibility of
asthma and contributes to the development of the asthmatic phenotype.