NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -Vitamin D receptor polymorphisms are associated with an increased risk of asthma and atopy, according to a report in the November 15th issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Dr. Benjamin A. Raby of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, and colleagues observe that the vitamin D receptor is known to play an important role in immune system development. It maps to a region on chromosome 12q that is commonly linked to asthma.
Furthermore, earlier studies in a Canadian cohort showed an association between vitamin D receptor polymorphisms, asthma, and atopy.
Dr. Raby’s team examined DNA samples from 582 families with children affected by mild to moderate asthma. They found that the vitamin D receptor Apa1 polymorphism was associated with “significant transmission distortion.” This association was most prominent in girls, in whom distortion was most marked.
The investigators were able to reproduce the findings in a second analysis involving 517 women with asthma and 519 matched controls. In all, 4 vitamin D receptor variants showed such a significant association.
“Although these results support a role for vitamin D receptor in the development of asthma and allergy,” the researchers point out, “the precise relationship between [the] polymorphisms and asthma development remain unclear.”
Furthermore, they conclude, “we suspect that a more comprehensive screen of the region...is required to localize the other asthma genes on chromosome 12q.”
Source: Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2004;170:1057-1065 [ Google search on this article ]
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