Correlation study on β2-adrenergic receptor gene polymorphisms and asthma susceptibility: evidence based on 57...

Previous studies have indicated that β2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) genetic polymorphism is related to the risk of asthma, but the results still have some controversy and uncertainty. To this end, the meta-analysis was performed, including all studies that can be used to assess the correlation between ADRB2 polymorphism and asthma susceptibility.

The related papers on ADRB2 polymorphisms and asthma were systematically reviewed in databases of PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and WanFang, Odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were measured. The sensitivity analysis and publication bias were evaluated to investigate the correlation.

This meta-analysis included 57 papers in total involving 11,157 cases and 12,281 controls. Results illustrated that the C79G variant genotypes owned a reduced effect on asthma susceptibility (G vs. C: OR=0.94, p=0.037). In the age stratification analysis, C79G polymorphism owned a reduced effect on asthma risk for children (GG vs. CC: OR=0.69, p=0.002; GG vs. CC+CG: OR=0.65, p<0.001). Furthermore, in the ethnic stratification analysis, the C79G variant genotypes also owned a reduced effect on asthma in Asians (GG vs. CC: OR=0.80, p=0.027; GG vs. CC+CG: OR=0.81, p=0.02). Besides, for A46G polymorphism, the ethnic stratification analysis demonstrated that the A46G variant owned an increased effect on asthma susceptibility among Caucasians (G vs. A: OR=1.15, p=0.043). For C491T polymorphism, a considerable reduced effect was found between C491T and asthma susceptibility for children (CT vs. CC: OR=0.70, p=0.03). In the ethnic stratification analysis, the effect was also considerable in the Caucasian subjects.

The present meta-analysis demonstrated that C79G and C491T polymorphism may be a defensive factor for asthma, while A46G polymorphism may be a risk factor for asthma among the Caucasian population.