ANÁLISIS DE ASOCIACIÓN ENTRE POLIMORFISMOS DE UN SOLO NUCLEÓTIDO EN LOS GENES STAT 1, STAT 3, STAT 4 Y STAT 6 Y EL RIESGO A DESARROLLAR ASMA ALÉRGICA EN POBLACIÓN PEDIÁTRICA

Abstract

Introduction: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease, which affects nearly the 15% of Mexican children. Increasing evidence shows that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in more than 100 candidate genes are important risk factors to develop this disease and they have ethnic differences. Objective: The present study was undertaken to determine whether SNPs in genes involved in immune and inflammatory responses are associated with asthma in Mexican pediatric patients. Material and methods: One hundred and fifty unrelated asthmatic patients were recruited from four pediatric hospitals in Mexico City. Additionally, 450 healthy blood bank donor controls were included as a control group. The controls were also drawn from Mexico City and sex matched. In all cases, the diagnosis of asthma was assessed by a Pneumonologist or Alergologist. Genotyping was performed using the 5´exonuclease technique (TaqMan) and included 22 SNPs in 4 candidate genes. Data were analyzed using the ADMIXMAP, FINETTI, HAPLOVIEW, EPIINFO programs. Results: SNPs in the STAT1, STAT3, STAT4 Y STAT6 genes were identified as new genetic risk factors for asthma. In contrast, genes associated with asthma and related phenotypes in more than 10 studies worldwide, were not associated in our population. Conclusion: This study gives evidence of a complex genetic background of asthma in pediatric Mexican patients. Further studies are necessary to identify if these genes are associated with severity of the disease