Association between ADAM33 polymorphisms and asthma risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Eosinophil peroxidase promotes bronchial epithelial cells to secrete asthma-related factors and induces the early stage of airway remodeling

Asthma is a heterogeneous disease characterized by chronic airway inflammation, reversible airflow limitation, and airway remodeling. Eosinophil peroxidase (EPX) is the most abundant secondary granule protein unique to activated eosinophils. In this study, we aimed to illustrate the effect of EPX on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in BEAS-2B cells. Our research found that both EPX and ADAM33 were negatively correlated with FEV1/FVC and FEV1%pred, and positively correlated with IL-5 levels. Asthma patients had relatively higher levels of ADAM33 and EPX compared to the healthy control group. The expression of TSLP, TGF-β1 and ADAM33 in the EPX intervention group was significantly higher. Moreover, EPX could promote the proliferation, migration and EMT of BEAS-2B cells, and the effect of EPX on various factors was significantly improved by the PI3K inhibitor LY294002. The findings from this study could potentially offer a novel therapeutic target for addressing airway remodeling in bronchial asthma, particularly focusing on EMT.

ADAM33's Role in Asthma Pathogenesis: An Overview

Asthma is a complex chronic respiratory disease characterized by airway hyperresponsiveness, inflammation, and obstruction. Many genes have been identified as associated with asthma but none with such substantial significance as the ADAM33 gene due to its role in airway remodeling and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the genetic and functional aspects of ADAM33 in asthma pathogenesis. We highlight its genetic variants associated with asthma susceptibility and severity, as well as the functional effects of ADAM33 on airway remodeling, smooth muscle cell proliferation, and its interplay with environmental factors. Additionally, we discuss the potential clinical implications of ADAM33 as a therapeutic target for asthma management.

Polymorphism in ADAM33 gene associated with asthmatics in West Bengal, India - An investigation by in-silico analysis

Introduction

Asthma is one of the common chronic polygenic inflammatory diseases. Genome wide association studies have identified ADAM33 as an asthma candidate gene. The present study investigated possible association of rs2280090 (T1), rs2280091 (T2) and rs3918396 (S1) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of ADAM33 with aeroallergen induced asthma in West Bengal population, India. In addition, in-silico analysis was performed to find out changes in protein function.

Methods

Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/Forced vital capacity (FVC), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) were assessed using spirometry in 1039 participants. Allergic sensitivity of 619 spirometry positive asthma patients was assessed by skin prick test (SPT) against 22 aeroallergens. For genotyping of T1, T2, and S1 SNPs in 540 allergic asthma patient and 420 control subjects, polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism was performed. Total Immunoglobulin-E (IgE) level was measured in both patients and controls. ADAM333 haplotype blocks were constructed using Haploview software v.4.2. Structural model of transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains of ADAM33 was generated using RaptorX. Protein-protein interaction was analysed using the STRING server.

Results

Highest number of patient sensitivity was observed towards Cocos nusifera (n = 215) and Dermatophagoides farinae (n = 229). Significant difference in sensitivity was observed between child and late adult (P = 0.03), child and early adult (P = 0.02), adolescent and late adult (P = 0.02) and adolescent and early adult (P = 0.01). Genotypic frequencies differed significantly between patients and controls (P < 0.05). rs2280090 GG, rs2280091GG and AG genotype, and rs3918396 AA carried significant risk for asthma (P = 0.02, P = 0.008, P = 0.04, P = 0.01 respectively). ADAM33 T1, T2, and S1 polymorphisms were in high Linkage Disequilibrium (D = 0.98). Haplotype consisting of rs2280090G, rs2280091G and rs3918396A alleles were found significantly higher in patient population in comparison with controls (OR = 2.03). IgE level differed significantly among different genotypes for T1, T2, and S1 SNPs analysed in pair (P < 0.0001). FEV1/FVC ratio differed significantly among different genotypes for T1, T2 and S1 SNPs analysed in pair (P < 0.0001). Significant difference of FEV1/FVC was also found between GGA and AAG haplotype (P < 0.0001). In-silico analysis revealed T1 and T2 polymorphisms are located in cytoplasmic domain of ADAM33 may cause bronchial smooth muscle cell mobility and cellular hyperplasia as well as cytoskeletal remodelling by altered interaction with different cytoplasmic proteins found by string analysis.

Conclusion

Present study showed significant association of T1, T2, and S1 polymorphisms of ADAM33 with aeroallergen-induced asthma in West Bengal, India. These polymorphisms may be used as prognostic markers and possible targets for therapeutics in future.

The Role of Polygenic Susceptibility on Air Pollution-Associated Asthma between German and Japanese Elderly Women

Polygenic susceptibility likely influences individual responses to air pollutants and the risk of asthma. We compared the role of polygenic susceptibility on air pollution-associated asthma between German and Japanese women. We investigated women that were enrolled in the German SALIA cohort (n = 771, mean age = 73 years) and the Japanese Shika cohort (n = 847, mean age = 67 years) with known asthma status. Adjusted logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between (1) particulate matter with a median aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5μm (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), (2) polygenic risk scores (PRS), and (3) gene-environment interactions (G × E) with asthma. We found an increased risk of asthma in Japanese women after exposure to low pollutant levels (PM2.5: median = 12.7µg/m3, p-value < 0.001, NO2: median = 8.5µg/m3, p-value < 0.001) and in German women protective polygenic effects (p-value = 0.008). While we found no significant G × E effects, the direction in both groups was that the PRS increased the effect of PM2.5 and decreased the effect of NO2 on asthma. Our study confirms that exposure to low air pollution levels increases the risk of asthma in Japanese women and indicates polygenic effects in German women; however, there was no evidence of G × E effects. Future genome-wide G × E studies should further explore the role of ethnic-specific polygenic susceptibility to asthma.

Gene polymorphisms in asthma: a narrative review

Background and Objective

Asthma is a heterogeneous disease caused by interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have revealed that genetic variation plays a crucial role in the occurrence and development of asthma. The objective is to systematically review the existing literature on the association between gene polymorphisms and asthma to better understand the relationship between genetic factors and the occurrence and development of asthma.

Methods

We used keywords "asthma" and "gene polymorphism" with their combinations to search for relevant literature published from 2000 to 2021 in the PubMed database and the foreign medical literature retrieval service (FMRS). All articles included in the review are English. Then, we summarized the information pertaining to the genetic factors related to asthma susceptibility.

Key Content and Findings

This study summarized the information on 10 gene variants related to the risk of asthma published over the past 20 years, which will assist in further understanding the role of genetic variants in the risk of asthma.

Conclusion

Dozens of candidate genes have been identified that were associated with asthma risk. Asthmatics existed specific gene variation performed different response to therapy. Personalized therapy based on genotypic profiling would be an important direction in the future. However, it remains a great challenge for us to explore the relationship between gene polymorphisms and pathophysiological mechanism of asthma.

Silencing a disintegrin and metalloproteinase‑33 attenuates the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells via PI3K/AKT pathway: Implications in the pathogenesis of airway vascular remodeling

Accumulating evidence suggests that pulmonary expression of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase-33 (ADAM33) serves a key role in the pathogenesis of airway remodeling-related diseases, including asthma. Airway vascular proliferation has been recognized as a key feature of airway remodeling. Our previous study showed that ADAM33 is constitutively expressed in airway vascular smooth muscle cells in patients with asthma, suggesting a potential role of ADAM33 in regulating airway vascular remodeling. Using in vitro human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) and lentiviral vector carrying short hairpin RNA for ADAM33, the present study aimed to evaluate the influence of ADAM33 silencing on the proliferation and apoptosis of HASMCs and the underlying molecular pathways. Cellular proliferation was observed using the Cell Counting Kit-8 method. Cellular apoptosis was evaluated with Annexin V-PE/7-AAD staining and flow cytometry. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blotting were used to evaluate the changes in mRNA and protein levels of involved signaling molecules. It was found that silencing of ADAM33 expression in HASMCs significantly inhibited proliferation, but induced the apoptosis of HASMCs. These changes were accompanied by inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/ERK pathway and Bcl-2, but an increase in Bax expression. These results suggested that constitutive expression of ADAM33 may be important to maintain a proliferative phenotype in HASMCs. The influences of ADAM33 on proliferation and apoptosis of HASMCs may involve regulation of PI3K/AKT/ERK and Bax/Bcl-2 pathways. These findings suggested an important role of ADAM33 in airway vascular remodeling and potential therapeutic significance of ADAM33 inhibition in airway remodeling-related diseases.

The Association of IgE Levels with ADAM33 Genetic Polymorphisms among Asthmatic Patients

Total serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) is elevated in multiple allergic diseases and is considered a good predictor of atopy. Several studies have been performed on the association of IgE levels with the polymorphism of the ADAM33 gene in asthmatic patients. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is an association between IgE levels and the genetic polymorphisms of the ADAM33 gene (T1, T2, T + 1, V4, S1, S2, and Q-1) in both healthy and asthmatic patients among Jordanians. The clinical data were collected for this case–control study from 267 asthmatic patients and 225 control subjects. Seven genetic polymorphisms (T1, T2, T + 1, V4, S1, S2, and Q-1) of the gene ADAM33 were analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism method. The minor alleles (G) of T1, (A) of T2, T + 1, and (G) of V4 polymorphisms were associated with a significant increase in total serum IgE levels in adults but not children. The V4 genetic polymorphism, however, showed a significant association with IgE levels in both adults and children. The S1 polymorphism was significantly associated with the codominant module only in the adults. The S2 polymorphism showed a significant association (p-value < 0.05) in both codominant and recessive models. However, in the dominant model for both pediatric control and asthmatic patients, the association between the IgE and S2 polymorphism was insignificant (p-value = 0.7271 and 0.5259, respectively). This study found a statistically significant association between multiple ADAM33 genetic polymorphisms and IgE levels. Such findings add to the growing evidence that the ADAM33 gene has a major impact on IgE levels among asthmatic patients of Jordanian origin.

Lignosus rhinocerotis Cooke Ryvarden ameliorates airway inflammation, mucus hypersecretion and airway hyperresponsiveness in a murine model of asthma

Lignosus rhinocerotis Cooke. (L. rhinocerotis) is a medicinal mushroom traditionally used in the treatment of asthma and several other diseases by the indigenous communities in Malaysia. In this study, the effects of L. rhinocerotis on allergic airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness were investigated. L. rhinocerotis extract (LRE) was prepared by hot water extraction using soxhlet. Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) study was performed in house dust mite (HDM)-induced asthma in Balb/c mice while airway inflammation study was performed in ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthma in Sprague-Dawley rats. Treatment with different doses of LRE (125, 250 and 500 mg/kg) significantly inhibited AHR in HDM-induced mice. Treatment with LRE also significantly decreased the elevated IgE in serum, Th2 cytokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and ameliorated OVA-induced histological changes in rats by attenuating leukocyte infiltration, mucus hypersecretion and goblet cell hyperplasia in the lungs. LRE also significantly reduced the number of eosinophils and neutrophils in BALF. Interestingly, a significant reduction of the FOXP3+ regulatory T lymphocytes was observed following OVA induction, but the cells were significantly elevated with LRE treatment. Subsequent analyses on gene expression revealed regulation of several important genes i.e. IL17A, ADAM33, CCL5, IL4, CCR3, CCR8, PMCH, CCL22, IFNG, CCL17, CCR4, PRG2, FCER1A, CLCA1, CHIA and Cma1 which were up-regulated following OVA induction but down-regulated following treatment with LRE. In conclusion, LRE alleviates allergy airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness, thus suggesting its therapeutic potential as a new armamentarium against allergic asthma.

Asthma susceptible genes in children: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

During the last decade, a number of studies have evaluated the potential association between some genetic polymorphisms and childhood asthma risk, however, the results of published studies appear conflicts. The aim of the present study was to investigate association between genetic polymorphisms and pediatric asthma.

METHODS

Relevant studies were searched in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), Wanfang, and Weipu database. Pooled odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to evaluate the strength of the associations.

RESULTS

Fifty five case-control studies were finally included in this meta-analysis, including 17,971 pediatric asthma cases and 17,500 controls. Eighteen polymorphisms were identified, of which, 9 polymorphisms were found to be associated with asthma risk in overall populations: IL-13 +2044G/A, IL-4 -590C/T, ADAM33 F+1, ADAM33 T2, ADAM33 T1, ADAM33 ST+4,ORMDL3 rs7216389, VDR FokI, VDR TaqI. Furthermore, IL-13 +2044G/A, IL-4 -590C/T, ADAM33 T2, ADAM33 T1, VDR BsmI polymorphisms may cause an increased risk of asthma among Chinese children.

CONCLUSIONS

This meta-analysis found that IL-13 +2044G/A, IL-4 -590C/T, ADAM33 F+1, ADAM33 T2, ADAM33 T1, ADAM33 ST+4,ORMDL3 rs7216389, VDR FokI, and VDR TaqI polymorphisms might be risk factors for childhood asthma. Further study with large population and more ethnicities is needed to estimate these associations.

Associations of TNF-α -238G/A, TNF-α -308G/A, and IL-6 -174G/C polymorphisms with the risk of asthma: Evidence from a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Previously, many genetic epidemiological studies have investigated associations between Th1-related cytokine polymorphisms and the risk of asthma, with inconsistent results. Accordingly, we carried out a meta-analysis to more precisely estimate associations between Th1-related cytokine polymorphisms and the risk of asthma.

METHODS

Systematic literature searching of Medline, Embase, Wanfang, VIP, and CNKI was conducted by the authors to identify eligible publications, and 69 genetic epidemiological studies were finally found to be eligible for quantitative analyses.

RESULTS

We found that genotypic frequencies of TNF-α -238G/A (dominant comparison: odds ratio [OR] = 0.47, P = .006; overdominant comparison: OR = 1.87, P = .03; allele comparison: OR = 0.50, P = .004), TNF-α -308G/A (dominant comparison: OR = 0.76, P = .001; overdominant comparison: OR = 1.29, P = .002; allele comparison: OR = 0.81, P = .0009) and IL-6 -174G/C (dominant comparison: OR = 0.55, P = .0008) polymorphisms among patients with asthma and control subjects were significantly different. However, we did not detect such a genotypic distribution difference for the IL-1B-511C/T polymorphism.

CONCLUSIONS

The present meta-analysis shows that TNF-α -238G/A, TNF-α -308G/A, and IL-6 -174G/C polymorphisms may influence the risk of asthma.

The genome-wide supported CACNA1C gene polymorphisms and the risk of schizophrenia: an updated meta-analysis

Background

The CACNA1C gene was defined as a risk gene for schizophrenia in a large genome-wide association study of European ancestry performed by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Previous meta-analyses focused on the association between the CACNA1C gene rs1006737 and schizophrenia. The present study focused on whether there was an ancestral difference in the effect of the CACNA1C gene rs1006737 on schizophrenia. rs2007044 and rs4765905 were analyzed for their effect on the risk of schizophrenia.

Methods

Pooled, subgroup, sensitivity, and publication bias analysis were conducted.

Results

A total of 18 studies met the inclusion criteria, including fourteen rs1006737 studies (15,213 cases, 19,412 controls), three rs2007044 studies (6007 cases, 6518 controls), and two rs4765905 studies (2435 cases, 2639 controls). An allele model study also related rs2007044 and rs4765905 to schizophrenia. The overall meta-analysis for rs1006737, which included the allele contrast, dominant, recessive, codominance, and complete overdominance models, showed significant differences between rs1006737 and schizophrenia. However, the ancestral-based subgroup analysis for rs1006737 found that the genotypes GG and GG + GA were only protective factors for schizophrenia in Europeans. In contrast, the rs1006737 GA genotype only reduced the risk of schizophrenia in Asians.

Conclusions

Rs1006737, rs2007044, and rs4765905 of the CACNA1C gene were associated with susceptibility to schizophrenia. However, the influence model for rs1006737 on schizophrenia in Asians and Europeans demonstrated both similarities and differences between the two ancestors.

Genetics and Epigenetics of Atopic Dermatitis: An Updated Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Atopic dermatitis is a common inflammatory skin disorder that affects up to 15-20% of the population and is characterized by recurrent eczematous lesions with intense itching. As a heterogeneous disease, multiple factors have been suggested to explain the nature of atopic dermatitis (AD), and its high prevalence makes it necessary to periodically compile and update the new information available. In this systematic review, the focus is set at the genetic and epigenetic studies carried out in the last years.

METHODS

A systematic literature review was conducted in three scientific publication databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Scopus). The search was restricted to publications indexed from July 2016 to December 2019, and keywords related to atopic dermatitis genetics and epigenetics were used.

RESULTS

A total of 73 original papers met the inclusion criteria established, including 9 epigenetic studies. A total of 62 genes and 5 intergenic regions were described as associated with AD.

CONCLUSION

Filaggrin (FLG) polymorphisms are confirmed as key genetic determinants for AD development, but also epigenetic regulation and other genes with functions mainly related to the immune system and extracellular matrix, reinforcing the notion of skin homeostasis breakage in AD.

ERS International Congress, Madrid, 2019: highlights from the Airway Diseases, Asthma and COPD Assembly

The European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress 2019 in Madrid, Spain, was a platform for scientific discussion of the highest quality scientific research, cutting-edge techniques and innovative new therapies within the respiratory field. This article discusses some of the high-quality research studies presented at that Congress, with a focus on airway diseases, including asthma, COPD, small airways, bronchiectasis and cough, presented through the Airway Diseases, Asthma and COPD Assembly (Assembly 5) of the ERS. The authors establish the key take-home messages of these studies, compare their findings and place them into context of current understanding.