Association of polymorphisms in the human IL4 and IL5 genes with atopic bronchial asthma and severity of the disease

Two polymorphisms in the IL4 (G/C 3′‐UTR) and IL5 (C‐703T) genes were studied in a sample of families whose probands had atopic bronchial asthma (BA) (66 families, n = 183) and in a group of non‐cognate individuals with the severe form of the disease ( n = 34). The samples were collected from the Russian population in the city of Tomsk (Russia). Using the t ransmission/ d isequilibrium t est (TDT), a significant association of allele C‐703 IL5 with BA was established (TDT = 4.923, p = 0.007 ± 0.0007). The analysis of 40 individuals with mild asthma and 49 patients with the severe form of the disease revealed a negative association of genotype GG IL4 (OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.15–0.99, p = 0.035), and also a trend towards a positive association of the GC IL4 genotype (OR = 2.52, 95% CI = 0.98–6.57, p = 0.052) with mild BA. There was a concordance of the clinical classification of BA severity with the ‘genotype’ (McNemar's X 2 test with continuity correction constituted 0.03, d.f. = 1, p = 0.859). These results suggest that polymorphisms in the IL4 and IL5 genes contribute to the susceptibility to atopic BA and could determine the clinical course of the disease. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.