Significant association of interleukin 8 -251T/A polymorphism with smoking behavior in a Japanese population

Accumulating evidence indicates that the genotype may impact on smoking behavior and a deeper understanding of the molecular basis could lead to more effective strategies for preventing initiation of the habit and to help smokers to quit. Since individual variation in airway responsiveness to cigarette smoke might have an important influence, we have focused on associations between smoking behavior and polymorphisms affecting the inflammatory cytokine, IL-8. In the present study, 453 Japanese non-cancer outpatients (191 males and 262 females) who visited Aichi Cancer Center Hospital were genotyped for the IL8 -251T/A polymorphism, and age- and sex-adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for smoking were estimated using a logistic regression model. The aORs for IL8 251-TA and AA combined, genotypes associated with high production of IL-8, were 0.52 (95% CI 0.33-0.82, P=0.004) for ever having smoked and 0.55 (0.33-0.92, P=0.023) for being a current smoker. Our results suggest that the inflammatory-prone genotype of IL8 may act to deter initiation or characteristics of the smoking habit.