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Associations of Toll-like receptor 7 and 8 Polymorphisms with Asthma and Asthma-related Phenotypes in a Chinese Han
Qian Zhang1, Fen-Hong Qian2, Xiao-Wei Yin3
1Department of Respiratory Medicine, Affiliated Changzhou No.2 People's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, China AND Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command, Nanjing, China.
Abstract:
Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 and 8 mediate anti-virus immunity and are of particular relevance to asthma. However, very little information about genetic association on TLR7/8 and asthma are available. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of polymorphisms in TLR7 and 8 on asthma risk and asthma-related phenotypes in a Chinese Han population. We enrolled 462 unrelated adult asthmatic patients and 398 healthy volunteers. The genotypes of tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TLR7 and 8 genes were determined using multiplex SNaPshot SNP genotyping assay. We used case-control and case-only studies to assess any links with asthma and asthma-related phenotypes. There was no association between the variants in TLR7 and 8 and asthma susceptibility. However, our results revealed that the genetic variants in TLR7 and 8 were associated with asthma-related phenotypes, including eosinophil counts, serum immunoglobulin E levels, lung function, and asthma severity as well. Our study suggests that TLR7 and 8 polymorphisms may play a considerable role in the pathogenesis of asthma. It will help in better understanding the pathogenesis of asthma and development of more effective strategies for asthma prevention, prediction, and therapy.
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