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ALTE and smoking exposure: which role of detoxification genes polymorphisms?
Author(s) -
Filonzi L.,
Nosetti L.,
Magnani C.,
Vaghi M.,
Nganso Fenjiep A. F.,
Marzano F. N.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
clinical genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.543
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1399-0004
pISSN - 0009-9163
DOI - 10.1111/cge.12788
Subject(s) - detoxification (alternative medicine) , gene , genetics , biology , medicine , pathology , alternative medicine
To the Editor: Apparent Life Threatening Event (ALTE) syndrome is characterized by a frightening constellation of symptoms in which the child exhibits combination of apnea, modification in color and in muscle tone, coughing or gagging (1). This condition has been correlated to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS); although SIDS exact mechanisms remain unknown, an involvement of the nervous system and arousal process impairment in response to a life-threatening stressor is thought to be involved. Franco et al. (2) demonstrated that ALTE infants with smoking mothers had arousal and respiratory characteristics similar to SIDS, suggesting some common abnormalities in brainstem dysfunction. Among environmental stressors, a major action appears to be smoking exposure during intrauterine development and subsequent postnatal impaired arousability (3). Considering cited aspects, detoxification processes of xenobiotics, could play a major role in preventing ALTE. Among enzymes involved in detoxification, GSTs isoforms (glutathione-S-transferases) are particularly relevant. GSTT1 and GSTM1 genes have been shown to be involved in xenobiotics detoxification, including those encountered through tobacco exposure. In particular, two prevalent GSTM1 and GSTT1 gene deletions have repeatedly been associated with decreased detoxification, due to null enzymatic activity of these enzymes (4). Starting from these observations, we analyzed the correlation between GSTM1 and GSTT1 deletions and ALTE. GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes were determined in 71 ALTE infants (mean age at event 52 days; range 1–193 days; 0.87 males/females) and 45 unrelated healthy controls (genderand ethnicity-matched; age older than 2 years). GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypic frequencies are reported in Table 1. Considering ALTE patients, 39/71 (54.9%)