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Association Between Vitamin D Metabolism Gene Polymorphisms and Risk of Tunisian Adults’ Asthma

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Abstract

Introduction

Several studies have shown a strong correlation between the serum vitamin D level and asthma severity and deficits in lung function.

Objective

Study the relationship between vitamin D and the severity of asthma by targeting five SNPs of vitamin D metabolism gene pathway in a Tunisian adult asthmatics population.

Methods

Our case–control study includes 154 adult asthmatic patients and 154 healthy Tunisian subjects. We genotyped many variants in three human genes encoding key components of the vitamin D metabolism, CYP2R1, CYP27B1, GC. The GC gene rs4588 and rs7041 polymorphisms were analysed using the PCR-RFLP method, while rs10741657 and rs12794714 for CYP2R1 gene and rs10877012 of CYP27B1 gene were investigated using TaqMan PCR genotyping techniques.

Results

We found that the presence of at least one copy of the rs12794714 A, allele was associated with lower risk of developing asthma (OR 0.61). Further, the rs12794714 is a protector factor against asthma severity (OR 0.5). However, the presence of rs10877012 TG genotype is a risk factor related to asthma severity (OR 1.89). When we classified the population according to sex, our results showed that rs10877012 TT genotype was a risk factor for women subjects (OR 6.7). Moreover, the expression of TT genotype was associated with a higher risk of asthma in non-smoker patients (OR 7.13). We found a significant lower VD serum levels in asthmatics than controls but no impact of the polymorphisms on VD levels.

Conclusions

We found that rs12794714 and rs10877012 SNPs were associated with asthma risk.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all contributors who provided data to our team. We especially need to thank EPAR team of Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health (iPLESP), UMR 1136, Epidemiology of Allergic and Respiratory Diseases (EPAR), Paris, France. And Mr DORGHAM Karim laboratory engineer of: Inserm UMR-S1135, Center for Immunology and Infectious Diseases (CIMI-Paris), Paris, France, AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital Group, Department of Immunology, Paris, France, CR7, CIMI-Paris, Paris, France.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Sciences Tunis, Tunis El Manar University Tunisia, Tunis, Tunisia

    Oussama Lahmar & Mariem Salhi

  2. Expression Moléculaire des interactions Cellulaires et de leurs modes de communication dans le Poumon, UR/12-SP15, Medical Faculty of Tunis, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia

    Wajih Kaabachi & Kamel Hamzaoui

  3. Department of Respiratory Diseases, Hospital A. Mami, Pavillon B, Ariana, Tunisia

    Anissa Berraies, Jamel Ammar & Agnes Hamzaoui

  4. Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, INSERM, Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health (IPLESP UMRS 1136), Epidemiology of Allergic and Respiratory Diseases Department (EPAR), Saint-Antoine Medical School, 75012, Paris, France

    Munawar Hussain Soomro & Isabella Annesi-Maesano

  5. Inserm UMR-S1135, Center for Immunology and Infectious Diseases (CIMI-Paris), AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital Group, Department of Immunology, Paris, France, CR7, CIMI Paris, Paris, France

    Martin Larsen

  6. Medical University Tunis, Tunis El Manar University Tunisia, 15 Rue Djebel Lakhdhar, La Rabta, 1007, Tunis, Tunisia

    Oussama Lahmar

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  1. Oussama Lahmar
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  2. Mariem Salhi
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  3. Wajih Kaabachi
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Correspondence to Oussama Lahmar.

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Lahmar, O., Salhi, M., Kaabachi, W. et al. Association Between Vitamin D Metabolism Gene Polymorphisms and Risk of Tunisian Adults’ Asthma. Lung 196, 285–295 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-018-0101-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-018-0101-2

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