Association of the -1072G/A polymorphism in the LTC4S gene with asthma in an Indian population.

BACKGROUND

Atopic asthma, the most common chronic disease affecting children and young adults, is a complex disorder with variable phenotypes. Cysteine leukotrienes (Cys-LTs) are powerful bronchoconstrictors and play a critical role in airway inflammation and remodeling that are characteristic of asthma.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the association of ALOX5, LTC4S and CysLTR2 gene polymorphisms with atopic asthma in an Indian population.

METHODS

A total of 19 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within these genes were genotyped in a family-based cohort (n = 239) and a case-control cohort (139 cases and 194 controls) followed by association analyses.

RESULTS

We found a significant association of the -1072G/A (rs3776944) SNP with atopic asthma in the family-based association analysis (p = 0.0004). These results were also replicated in the case-control cohort (p = 0.009). The allele A was negatively associated with atopic asthma. We also noted a significant association in the two-locus (rs3776944G/A and rs730012A/C) haplotypic analysis of this gene both in the family-based (p = 0.03) and the case-control (p = 0.02) analyses.

CONCLUSION

This study supports the role of the LTC4S gene polymorphism in genetic susceptibility to atopic asthma in an Indian population.