Association of a disintegrin and metalloprotease 33 gene polymorphisms with asthma

Various studies reported a disintegrin and metalloprotease 33 (ADAM33) as an important susceptibility gene for asthma, which is frequently detected among certain populations. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the ADAM33 gene and asthma. Our case-control study included 183 patients (73 male and 110 female, mean age 42.93±13.48 years) who were admitted in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University between February, 2012 and May, 2013 and 155 healthy controls (66 male and 89 female, mean age 41.14±14.10 years). Allele-specific polymerase chain reaction technology and DNA testing training methods were applied to detect the T2 and ST+5 polymorphisms of the ADAM33 gene. The data were statistically analyzed to determine whether there exists an association between these genotypes and asthma-related morbidity. The genotypes and allele frequencies of the T2 and ST+5 SNPs of ADAM33 were not found to be significantly associated with asthma risk when compared between asthmatic patients and healthy controls (P>0.05). In addition, there was no association of the investigated SNPs with the severity of asthma. There was no significant difference in the forced vital capacity and the forced expiratory volume between patients with the ADAM33 T2 and ST+5 genotype. In conclusion, our results suggested that the T2 and ST+5 ADAM33 gene polymorphisms do not confer a significant risk of asthma or affect its severity in the population investigated.