Association of 5-lipoxygenase gene polymorphisms with bronchial asthma

Leukotrienes are important pro-inflammatory mediators in bronchial asthma (BA) and are derived from arachidonic acid by the action of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO). We investigated the association of 5-LO gene polymorphisms with BA. Thirty-six single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the 5-LO gene, as referenced in the dbSNP gene bank, were analyzed with sequencing and allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR) in genomic DNA from individuals with BA and controls. Of these 36 SNPs, 4 were identified in our study. The c.760 G>A (E254K) (rs2228065) was detected in 15 out of 215 BA patients and 6 out of 212 controls (P<0.05). There were no differences in the frequencies of the other three silent polymorphisms, rs2228064 (c.270 G>A), rs116961353 (c.780G>A) and rs2229136 (c.1728 A>G) between individuals with BA and controls (P>0.05). With our designed primers for AS-PCR, the detection of the 5-LO gene E254K polymorphism was clear and accurate, and the genotype was directly distinguished. Our findings contribute to the evaluation of one of the genetic risk factors for BA and we report an accurate and simple method to rapidly detect the 5-LO E254K polymorphism. It is important to further study the correlation between drug response in BA patients using 5-LO inhibitors with the E254K polymorphism in the clinic.