Asthma susceptible genes in children: A meta-analysis.

Background: During the last decade, a number of studies have evaluated the potential association between some genetic polymorphisms and childhood asthma risk, however, the results of published studies appear conflicts. The aim of the present study was to investigate association between genetic polymorphisms and pediatric asthma.

Methods: Relevant studies were searched in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), Wanfang, and Weipu database. Pooled odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to evaluate the strength of the associations.

Results: Fifty five case-control studies were finally included in this meta-analysis, including 17,971 pediatric asthma cases and 17,500 controls. Eighteen polymorphisms were identified, of which, 9 polymorphisms were found to be associated with asthma risk in overall populations: IL-13 +2044G/A, IL-4 -590C/T, ADAM33 F+1, ADAM33 T2, ADAM33 T1, ADAM33 ST+4,ORMDL3 rs7216389, VDR FokI, VDR TaqI. Furthermore, IL-13 +2044G/A, IL-4 -590C/T, ADAM33 T2, ADAM33 T1, VDR BsmI polymorphisms may cause an increased risk of asthma among Chinese children.

Conclusions: This meta-analysis found that IL-13 +2044G/A, IL-4 -590C/T, ADAM33 F+1, ADAM33 T2, ADAM33 T1, ADAM33 ST+4,ORMDL3 rs7216389, VDR FokI, and VDR TaqI polymorphisms might be risk factors for childhood asthma. Further study with large population and more ethnicities is needed to estimate these associations.