Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Nov;66(11):1442-8.
doi: 10.1111/j.1398-9995.2011.02681.x. Epub 2011 Aug 5.

Gene-vitamin D interactions on food sensitization: a prospective birth cohort study

X Liu  1 , G Wang, X Hong, D Wang, H-J Tsai, S Zhang, L Arguelles, R Kumar, H Wang, R Liu, Y Zhou, C Pearson, K Ortiz, R Schleimer, P G Holt, J Pongracic, H E Price, C Langman, X Wang
Affiliations

Gene-vitamin D interactions on food sensitization: a prospective birth cohort study

X Liu et al. Allergy. 2011 Nov.

Abstract

Background: It has been hypothesized that vitamin D deficiency (VDD) contributes to the development of food sensitization (FS) and then food allergy. However, the epidemiological evidence is conflicting. We aim to examine whether cord blood VDD is associated with FS and whether such association can be modified by genetic variants in a prospective birth cohort.

Methods: This study included 649 children who were enrolled at birth and followed from birth onward at the Boston Medical Center. We defined VDD as cord blood 25(OH)D < 11 ng/ml, and FS as specific IgE ≥ 0.35 kUA/l to any of eight common food allergens in early childhood. We genotyped potentially functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 11 genes known to be involved in regulating IgE and 25(OH)D concentrations. Logistic regressions were used to test the effects of VDD on FS individually and jointly with SNPs.

Results: Among the 649 children, 44% had VDD and 37% had FS. When examined alone, VDD was not associated with FS. When examined jointly with SNPs, a significant interaction between IL4 gene polymorphism (rs2243250) and VDD (p(interaction) = 0.003, p(FDR) = 0.10) was found: VDD increased the risk of FS among children carrying CC/CT genotypes (OR = 1.79, 95%CI: 1.15-2.77). Similar but weaker interactions were observed for SNPs in MS4A2 (rs512555), FCER1G (rs2070901), and CYP24A1 (rs2762934). When all four SNPs were simultaneously considered, a strong gene-VDD interaction was evident (p(interaction) = 9 × 10(-6) ).

Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that VDD may increase the risk of FS among individuals with certain genotypes, providing evidence of gene-vitamin D interaction on FS.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors have a conflict of interest pertaining to this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Interactive effect between the combined risk genotypesa of the genes IL4 (rs2243250), MS4A2 (rs512555), FCER1G (rs2070901), and CYP24A1 (rs2762934) with cord blood 25(OH)D on food sensitization in BMC birth cohort. aRisk genotypes refer to the group for which vitamin D deficiency showed increased risk of food sensitization. They are CC/CT, GG, TT/TG and AA/AG for rs2243250, rs512555, rs2070901and, rs2762934 respectively. Pinteraction=9×10−6.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sicherer SH, Sampson HA. Food allergy. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010;125(2) Suppl 2:S116–S125. - PubMed
    1. Lack G. Epidemiologic risks for food allergy. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2008;121(6):1331–1336. - PubMed
    1. Holick MF. Sunlight and vitamin D for bone health and prevention of autoimmune diseases, cancers, and cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004;80(6) Suppl:1678S–1688S. - PubMed
    1. Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(3):266–281. - PubMed
    1. Ginde AA, Liu MC, Camargo CA., Jr Demographic differences and trends of vitamin D insufficiency in the US population, 1988–2004. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(6):626–632. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms