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Effects of a 17q21 chromosome gene variant, tobacco smoke and furred pets on infant wheeze

Genes & Immunity volume 13, pages 94–97 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

The first common genetic factor identified for pediatric asthma by genome-wide association is the chromosome 17q21 locus, harbouring the ORMDL3 gene. ORMDL3 is involved in facilitation of endoplasmic reticulum-mediated inflammatory responses, believed to underlie its asthma association. We investigated associations between the rs7216389 polymorphism in the 17q21 locus affecting ORMDL3 expression and the risk for recurrent wheeze and interactions with exposure to tobacco smoke and furred pets during pregnancy and infancy using a birth cohort of 101 042 infants. Rs7216389 was significantly associated with recurrent wheeze risk among 18-month-old infants. There was a 1.35-fold higher risk of recurrent wheeze among homozygous variant allele carriers compared with homozygous wild-type allele carriers. There was significant interaction between rs7216389 and domestic furred pets, with a positive association between pets and wheeze among homozygous wild-type carriers and a negative association among homozygous variant allele carriers. There was no interaction between rs7216389 and tobacco smoke exposure.

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Acknowledgements

EVB was supported by a Research Grant from the Danish Medical Research Council. The project was supported by the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, as part of the Danish Centre of Excellence on Air Pollution and Health, AIRPOLIFE (Grant 2052-03-0016) and Center for Indoor Air and Health in Dwellings, CISBO. The Danish National Research Foundation has established the Danish Epidemiology Science Centre that initiated and created DNBC. The cohort is furthermore a result of a major grant from this foundation. DNBC was further supported by the Pharmacy Foundation, the Egmont Foundation, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, the Augustinus Foundation and the Health Foundation.

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Author notes

  1. E V Bräuner and S Loft: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark

    E V Bräuner, O Raaschou-Nielsen & M Sørensen

  2. Department Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Section of Environmental Health, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark

    S Loft

  3. National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark

    U Vogel

  4. Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark

    P S Andersen

Authors
  1. E V Bräuner
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  2. S Loft
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  3. O Raaschou-Nielsen
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  4. U Vogel
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  5. P S Andersen
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  6. M Sørensen
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Correspondence to E V Bräuner.

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Bräuner, E., Loft, S., Raaschou-Nielsen, O. et al. Effects of a 17q21 chromosome gene variant, tobacco smoke and furred pets on infant wheeze. Genes Immun 13, 94–97 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2011.51

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2011.51

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