Korean J Asthma Allergy Clin Immunol.  2006 Dec;26(4):271-276.

Association between IL-13 +2044G/A Polymorphism and Childhood Asthma, and Its Functional Analysis

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The IL-13 +2044G/A is known to be associated with increased serum total IgE levels and asthma development. Variant type of IL-13 was significantly more active than wild type in inducing CD23 expression in monocytes.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated the association of asthma susceptibility and asthma-related phenotypes with +2044G/A and the functional difference between wild (+2044G, R110) and variant types (+2044A, Q110). METHOD: We enrolled 358 atopic asthmatic, 81 non-atopic asthmatic, and 146 control children and evaluated total IgE and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Genotypes were analyzed by PCR-RFLP method. We applied wild and variant types of IL-13 to B cells and evaluated CD23 expression by flow cytometry. RESULT: The group with more than one variant alleles of +2044G/A was associated with asthma development, but not with increased total IgE levels than those with wild homozygote in children with asthma. When Q110 was applied to peripheral blood B cells of normal subjects and EBV-transformed B cells from children with atopic asthma, CD23 expressions was higher than those when R110 applied.
CONCLUSION
IL-13 +2044G/A was associated with asthma development in Korean children with asthma, but not with total IgE. In addition, Q110 enhanced CD23 expression on B cells. These findings suggest that IL-13 +2044A (Q110) polymorphism may play a role in asthma development or IgE production.

MeSH Terms

Alleles
Asthma*
B-Lymphocytes
Child
Flow Cytometry
Genotype
Homozygote
Humans
Immunoglobulin E
Interleukin-13*
Monocytes
Phenotype
Immunoglobulin E
Interleukin-13