Role of Cytokine Polymorphisms in the Rhinitis-Asthma Evolution

AAD1. Role of Cytokine Polymorphisms in the Rhinitis-Asthma Evolution G. Santini1, L. Scola1, S. La Piana1, P. Di Gangi1, L. Vaccarino1, M. Bova1, C. R. Balistreri1, D. Lio1, G. Di Lorenzo1 1University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy Background: Several epidemiological studies demonstrate that a timeline from rhinitis to asthma exists, and that rhinitis is a risk factor for asthma. In particular, rhinitis increases the chance of development of asthma by about three times. In addition to environmental factors, genetic factors play an important role in the development of atopic airway diseases. The aim of this study is to analyse the role of cytokine polymorphism in the evolution of rhinitis-asthma. Methods: A total of 170 allergic patients, 90 affected by rhinitis and 80 affected by asthma and 187 controls subjects matched for age and gender were typed for several single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of IL-10 (rs1800896), (rs1800871), (rs1800872), IL10RB (rs2834167), IL-6 (rs1800795), IL-4 (rs2243248), IL-4R (rs1801275), IL-13 (rs1800925), IL- 18 (rs187238), (rs1946518), IL-12 (rs3212227), INFgR (rs1327474) and CD23 (rs2228137) according to our laboratory procedures. Results: The SNPs were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in all three populations. None of the analysed SNPs are associated in the evolution of rhinitis-asthma. Instead, significant differences of genotype and allelic frequencies between allergic patients and controls were observed in the polymorphism of IL-6 (p=0.0433 and p=0.0021) IL-13 (p=0.002 and p=0.0006) and IL-18 (p=0.0173 and p=0.0364). Conclusions: The results of our study confirm the already known association of the IL-6, IL-13 and IL-18 polymorphism with allergic airway diseases. The possible link between rhinitis and asthma remains unknown, so additional studies are necessary