Vitamin D plasma concentration and vitamin D receptor genetic variants confer risk of asthma: A comparison study of Taiwanese and Mongolian populations.

Background: Recent reports have suggested that lower vitamin D serum levels are associated with susceptibility to and severity of asthma in different white populations, which may be due to a lack of sunlight exposure, genetic polymorphism of vitamin D pathway genes, and dietary intake. We investigated the associations between vitamin D concentration, genetic polymorphism of the vitamin D receptor (VDR), and asthma traits in Mongolian and Taiwanese populations that inhabited two different geographical areas.

Methods: In total, 328 Han Taiwanese subjects and 381 Mongolian subjects were enrolled, and their vitamin D serum levels assayed.