GSTA1*-69C/T and GSTO2*N142D as asthma- and allergy-related risk factors in Italian adult patients.

摘要

1. Asthma and allergies are characterized by variable andudsubjective symptoms influenced by many genes, molecular mechanismsudand environmental factors. The presence of inflammationudand oxidative stress in the airways are important biochemicaludfeatures of asthma and respiratory allergies. Glutathione Stransferaseud(GSTs) enzymes play an important role in cellularudprotection against inflammation, and functional genetic polymorphismsudin GST genes show a significant association withudasthma and allergy risk. Specifically, our previous study on asthmaticudchildren highlighted GSTA1 and GSTO2 as novel susceptibilityudloci for asthma.ud2. In the present study we focused our attention onudGSTA1*-69C/T (rs3957357) and GSTO2*N142D (rs156697)udpolymorphisms to confirm our previous results in an independentudadult study population and to clarify whether GSTA1 andudGSTO2 gene polymorphisms are involved in a non-discriminativeudpathway towards asthma and respiratory allergy.ud3. To accomplish this, we recruited 103 patients with respiratoryudallergies, 199 patients with asthma and 200 healthyudcontrols. Genomic DNA extracted from buccal cells wasudscreened for GSTA1*-69C/T and GSTO2*N142D singleudnucleotide polymorphisms.ud4. The GSTA1*-69T and GSTO2*D142 variants are bothudassociated with a significantly increased risk of asthma,udwhereas only GSTA1*-69C/T is significantly associated withudallergies. These outcomes confirm the involvement of GSTO2udloci in asthma and suggest that GSTA1 is a common risk factorudfor asthma and allergies.