Authors : Mehrdad Hajilooi , Ebrahim Nadi , Alireza Rafiei , Mostafa Ansari , Sayed Ahmad Hashemi , Sussan Tavana and Fatemeh Zeraati
Abstract: Asthma is a multifactorial disease that its onset and severity are influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Identification of genetic factors involved in asthma development is required for better managing and controlling the disease. The E-selectin mediates the interaction of activated endothelial cells with leukocytes and plays a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of asthma. Our purpose was to determine whether this Ser128Arg polymorphism influences the risk of asthma and to analyze the possible correlation to disease severity in Iranian patients. We studied the human E-selectin gene polymorphism in a 172 asthmatic patients and 173 healthy volunteers by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). We identified increased levels of sE-selectin in asthmatic patients compared with healthy subjects (p< 0.0001). Frequencies of the SS, SR and RR genotypes were found as 66.3, 31.4 and 2.3% in the patients and 91.9, 8.1 and 0.0% in control subjects, respectively. The 128Arg allele was more prevalent in patients than controls (OR 5.78; 95% CI, 3.07-10.86, p< 0.0001). However, in this study the polymorphism was not associated with circulating sE-selectin levels. We found a direct correlation between the level of sE-selectin and severity of asthma (p=0.001). On the other hand, there is a close association between 128Arg carriage and disease severity (p< 0.0001). These results suggest that the Ser128Arg polymorphism of the E-selectin gene is a genetic factor that may be associated with severity of asthma.
Mehrdad Hajilooi , Ebrahim Nadi , Alireza Rafiei , Mostafa Ansari , Sayed Ahmad Hashemi , Sussan Tavana and Fatemeh Zeraati , 2008. E-Selectin S128R Polymorphism and Se-Selectin Levels Influence Severity of Asthma. Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 3: 275-281.