Identification of IL13 C1923T as a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism for Asthma in Children from Mauritius

Abstract

Background: Research increasingly suggests that asthma is a familial and hereditary disorder and that genetic and environmental factors play a key role in its pathogenesis. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between 10 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci in the development of asthma in children from the Mauritian population. Methods: The study population consisted of 193 children with asthma and 189 healthy controls from the Mauritian population. Asthma was diagnosed in accordance with the American Thoracic Society criteria. TaqMan real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the genotypes of the SNP loci. Results: No statistically significant differences (p>0.05) were found between the experimental and control group in genotype distribution among nine of the loci (MS4A2 E237G, MS4A2 C-109T, ADRB2 R16G, IL4RA Q551R, IL4RA I75V, IL4 C-590T, IL13 A2044G, IL13 C-1112T, and CHI3L1 C-131G). However, the frequency of IL13 C1923T TT in the asthma group was significantly higher than in the control group (odds ratio=2.119, p=0.033) suggesting that carriers of IL13 C1923T TT in the Mauritian population may have a more significant risk of developing asthma. Conclusion: The nine loci have little contribution to the development of childhood asthma in the Mauritian population. IL13 C1923T TT has been detected to be the susceptible genotype and may have a significant effect on the pathogenesis of childhood asthma in the Mauritian population.