Association of ADAM33 polymorphisms with childhood asthma in a northern Chinese population

BackgroundGenetic factors contribute to the increasing incidence of childhood asthma. The ADAM33 (a disintegrin and metalloprotease domain-containing protein 33) gene, discovered through positional cloning, is the first to be associated with asthma and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. This case–control study conducted in a Han Chinese population in northern China compared the genotypes of child asthmatic patients to healthy controls for the presence of 6 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the ADAM33 gene.MethodsThe study population was composed of 412 children with asthma and 397 healthy controls. We genotyped 6 SNPs (F + 1, T + 1, T2, T1, V4, and Q-1) of ADAM33 with the PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Data were statistically analyzed to determine if an association existed between these genotypes and childhood asthma morbidity.ResultsThree SNPs (T + 1, T1, and V4) and 4 haplotypes (H1, H3, H5, and H8) were strongly associated with childhood asthma in children of northern China compared to healthy controls (P < 0.05), whereas the other tested SNPs and haplotypes demonstrated no significant relationship.ConclusionThe ADAM33 gene plays an important role in facilitating susceptibility to childhood asthma in this Han Chinese population.