Admixture of beneficial and unfavourable variants of GLCCI1 and FCER2 in Roma samples can implicate different clinical response to corticosteroids

Effects of STIP1 and GLCCI1 polymorphisms on the risk of childhood asthma and inhaled corticosteroid response in Chinese asthmatic children

Background

Asthma is a common chronic lung disease in children. We aimed to determine the associations between stress-induced phosphoprotein 1 (STIP1) and glucocorticoid-induced transcript 1 (GLCCI1) polymorphisms and susceptibility of childhood asthma and inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) response in children.

Methods

A total of 263 Chinese Han asthmatic children were recruited from the Xiangya Hospital, Central South University. Pulmonary function tests were performed before the treatment and 3 months after the treatment. One hundred fifty non-asthmatic children were recruited. Each participant’s DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood and Method of MassARRAY was used to genotype the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

Results

STIP1 rs2236647 wild-type homozygote (CC) was associated with increased asthma risk of children (OR = 1.858, 95% CI:1.205–2.864), but not associated with the ICS response. GLCCI1 rs37969, rs37972 and rs37973 polymorphisms were not associated with the risk of childhood asthma. However, rs37969 mutant genotypes (TT/GT) were significantly associated with less improvement in PD20 (p = 0.028). We also found significant associations between rs37969, rs37972 and rs37973 mutant genotypes and less improvement in maximal midexpiratory flow (MMEF) after ICS treatment for 3 months (p = 0.036, p = 0.010 and p = 0.003, respectively).

Conclusions

STIP1 rs2236647 was associated with asthma risk of children and GLCCI1 rs37969 mutant genotypes were associated with less improvement in airway hyper-responsiveness. GLCCI1 rs37969, rs37972 and rs37973 polymorphisms might be associated with pulmonary function in childhood asthma patients after ICS treatment.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12890-020-01332-2.

Genome-wide interaction study reveals age-dependent determinants of responsiveness to inhaled corticosteroids in individuals with asthma

While genome-wide association studies have identified genes involved in differential treatment responses to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in asthma, few studies have evaluated the potential effects of age in this context. A significant proportion of asthmatics experience exacerbations (hospitalizations and emergency department visits) during ICS treatment. We evaluated the interaction of genetic variation and age on ICS response (measured by the occurrence of exacerbations) through a genome-wide interaction study (GWIS) of 1,321 adult and child asthmatic patients of European ancestry. We identified 107 genome-wide suggestive (P<10-05) age-by-genotype interactions, two of which also met genome-wide significance (P<5x10-08) (rs34631960 [OR 2.3±1.6-3.3] in thrombospondin type 1 domain-containing protein 4 (THSD4) and rs2328386 [OR 0.5±0.3-0.7] in human immunodeficiency virus type I enhancer binding protein 2 (HIVEP2)) by joint analysis of GWIS results from discovery and replication populations. In addition to THSD4 and HIVEP2, age-by-genotype interactions also prioritized genes previously identified as asthma candidate genes, including DPP10, HDAC9, TBXAS1, FBXL7, and GSDMB/ORMDL3, as pharmacogenomic loci as well. This study is the first to link these genes to a pharmacogenetic trait for asthma.

Characteristics of inflammatory bowel disease in patients of Roma/Gypsy ethnicity. A case-control study

BACKGROUND

Peculiarities of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been explored in ethnic groups, such as Asians, Hispanics, and Afro-Americans, but not in other ethnic minorities, such as Roma/Gypsies.

METHODS

In a retrospective, hospital-based study, all adult Roma/Gypsy patients included in the IBD databases of seven Spanish centres were identified as cases. For each Roma/Gypsy patient, a Caucasian patient, matched for several demographic features, was searched as a control. Data on phenotypic features, therapeutic requirements, and familial aggregation were recorded.

RESULTS

Sixty-eight Roma/Gypsy patients were identified, 29 of them being women. The mean age at diagnosis of IBD was 24.9±9.5years, and the mean time elapsed since diagnosis was 96.6±72.2months. Roma/Gypsy IBD patients showed a significantly higher rate of familial aggregation (43%) than their Caucasian controls (9%) (p=0.00001). CD in Roma/Gypsies had more often a complicated pattern (mainly penetrating) while UC patients showed a marked trend to more often developing extraintestinal manifestations. In addition, Roma/Gypsy IBD patients had a somewhat greater need for immunosuppressants, biological agents or surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

These are the first data on IBD in Roma/Gypsy patients. Familial aggregation is the most prominent feature in these patients, suggesting a predominant role of genetics in its pathogenesis.

Is the Definition of Roma an Important Matter? The Parallel Application of Self and External Classification of Ethnicity in a Population-Based Health Interview Survey

The Roma population is typified by a poor and, due to difficulties in ethnicity assessment, poorly documented health status. We aimed to compare the usefulness of self-reporting and observer-reporting in Roma classification for surveys investigating differences between Roma and non-Roma populations. Both self-reporting and observer-reporting of Roma ethnicity were applied in a population-based health interview survey. A questionnaire was completed by 1849 people aged 18–64 years; this questionnaire provided information on 52 indicators (morbidity, functionality, lifestyle, social capital, accidents, healthcare use) indicators. Multivariate logistic regression models controlling for age, sex, education and employment were used to produce indicators for differences between the self-reported Roma (N = 124) and non-Roma (N = 1725) populations, as well as between observer-reported Roma (N = 179) and non-Roma populations (N = 1670). Differences between interviewer-reported and self-reported individuals of Roma ethnicity in statistical inferences were observed for only seven indicators. The self-reporting approach was more sensitive for two indicators, and the observer-reported assessment for five indicators. Based on our results, the self-reported identity can be considered as a useful approach, and the application of observer-reporting cannot considerably increase the usefulness of a survey, because the differences between Roma and non-Roma individuals are much bigger than the differences between indicators produced by self-reported or observer-reported data on individuals of Roma ethnicity.