[Association of the C3 gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to adult asthma].

Objective: To investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the complement component 3 gene (C3) and adult asthma of Hans in southern China.

Methods: A case-control study was performed. Four hundred and eighty-four adult asthma patients diagnosed in Nanfang Hospital and Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical College, and 553 healthy subjects were collected from 2006 to 2010 for the study. MassARRAY-IPLEX and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) techniques was used to determine the genotypes of the rs10402876 and rs366510 loci of C3 gene.

Results: Genotypes GG, GT and TT in the rs366510 locus, and genotypes GG, GT and TT in the rs10402876 locus were detected. A total of 98.94 percent of samples were genotyped. There were no significant differences in genotype frequencies (chi-square =0.346,P=0.841) and allele frequencies (chi-square =0.101,P=0.751) of rs10402876 between the two groups. However, genotype and allele frequencies of the rs366510 locus were significantly different (chi-square =9.759, P=0.008, Bonferroni correction, P=0.016; chi-square =5.294,P=0.021, Bonferroni correction, P=0.042, respectively). Compared with genotypes GG+GT, genotype TT of rs366510 significantly increased the risk of asthma, with the odds ratio of 1.471 (95% confidence interval 1.125-1.923).

Conclusion: These results suggest that C3 gene could be associated with adult asthma of Han population in southern China.