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An IL-13 promoter polymorphism associated with increased risk of allergic asthma
T C van der Pouw Kraan1, A van Veen, L C Boeije
1Department of Auto-Immune Diseases, CLB and Laboratory of Clinical and Experimental Immunology, University of Amsterdam, Plesmanlaan 125, 1066 CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
IL-13 plays a crucial role in the development of allergic asthma by several mechanisms, including induction of IgE antibodies, airway eosinophilia and hyper-reactivity. We previously established a deregulated production of IL-13 by T cells from allergic asthma patients. In this report we describe the identification of a novel IL-13 promoter polymorphism (C to T exchange) at position -1055. The IL-13 -1055 TT genotype is associated with allergic asthma (P = 0.002), altered regulation of IL-13 production (P < 0.002), and increased binding of nuclear proteins to this region. We postulate that the presence of this polymorphism predisposes to the development of allergic asthma.