CDH13 gene-by-PM10 interaction effect on lung function decline in Korean men

- A significant interaction between a CDH13 variant and PM10 was found in Korean men.
- Inverse effect of PM10 on lung function was larger in men with AA of rs1862830.
- This pattern was reproducible in the two independent subgroups of recruitment site.
- We first replicated the CDH13 gene-by-PM10 interaction effect at the gene level.

Lung function can be influenced by genetic factors, which may explain individual differences in susceptibility to the effects of air pollution. This study investigated whether the effect of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm (PM10) on lung function is modified by Cadherin 13 (CDH13) genetic variants in Korean men. This study included a total of 1827 men who were recruited from two health check-up centers, and the annual average PM10 concentrations were used. A total of 200 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the CDH13 gene were selected for this study.We found that a SNP in CHD13 intron, rs1862830, had the strongest associations with both forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) (pint = 1.90 × 10−4) and forced vital capacity (FVC) (pint = 1.88 × 10−3) by interacting with PM10 in a recessive model. A stratified association analysis according to this SNP showed that PM10 in the AG or GG genotype group was not significantly associated with either FEV1 or FVC, whereas in homozygous risk-allele carriers (AA), FEV1 and FVC decreased significantly (by 3.8% and 3.1%, respectively) per 10 μg/m3 of increase in PM10 concentration. This pattern was also reproducible in the independent subgroups that were classified according to recruitment site. The present study replicated the CDH13 gene-by-PM10 interaction effect on lung function at the gene level, revealing that a genetic variant of CDH13 modified the relationship between PM10 and lung function decline in Korean men.