IL-13 Gene Polymorphisms and Their Association with Atopic Asthma and Rhinitis in Pakistani Patients

Interleukin-13 (il-13) is known to be a key regulator in immunoglobulin e (ige) synthesis, mucus hypersecretion and airway hyperresponsiveness. single nucleotide polymorphisms in il-13 are associated with allergic phenotypes in several ethnically diverse populations. this study was performed in 214 atopic patients (asthma n=108, allergic rhinitis n=106) and sex-matched healthy controls (n=120). genotyping of il-13 gene polymorphisms was performed using polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism method. a statistically significant association of the a-1512c polymorphism in il13 gene was observed with atopy (p<0.001; χ2=19.0). upon stratification of the data into asthma and ar association was revealed with both asthma (p=0.01; χ2=8.80) and ar (p<0.001; χ2=24.3) in pakistani patients. higher odds ratio (or 95% ci) was observed for ar 3.42 (2.04-5.76) relative to asthma 2.40 (1.41-4.09) for the c allele compared to controls. in conclusion the study provides the evidence that a-1512c polymorphisms in il-13 is a risk factor for asthma and ar.