Open AccessA Study of The Relationship between The Interleukin‐6 Gene and Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Author(s) -
Larkin Emma K.,
Patel Sanjay R.,
Zhu Xiaofeng,
Tracy Russell P.,
Jenny Nancy S.,
Reiner Alex P.,
Walston Jeremy,
Redline Susan
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
clinical and translational science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.303
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1752-8062
pISSN - 1752-8054
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-8062.2010.00236.x
Subject(s) - obstructive sleep apnea , single nucleotide polymorphism , medicine , body mass index , odds ratio , obesity , snp , logistic regression , minor allele frequency , allele , genotype , genetics , gene , biology
Because obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with increased levels of inflammatory cytokines, we examined the relationship between OSA and polymorphisms for interleukin‐6 ( IL6 ). Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within IL6 were genotyped in 259 African Americans from the Cleveland Family Study with replication conducted in the Cardiovascular Health Study ( n = 124). OSA was dichotomized into apnea hypopnea index (AHI) > 15, or on treatment versus absent: AHI < 5. Logistic regression was conducted, adjusting for age and sex in models with and without body mass index (BMI). SNP IL6 –6021 was associated with a decreased risk of OSA after adjusting for BMI (Odds Ratio for T allele 0.24, 95%CI [0.09–0.67], p = 0.006, q = 0.07) under an additive model. This same allele was associated with increased BMI. The results from the replication sample were consistent in direction though not statistically significant ( p = 0.23). The SNPs were studied in European‐ Americans, although, the minor allele frequency in IL6 –6021 was too low (4%) for meaningful comparisons. A synonymous SNP within the IL6 coding region was protective of OSA in African Americans; with qualitatively similar findings observed in another cohort. This suggests that variants in IL6 may influence the risk of OSA in a pathway that is not explained by obesity. Clin Trans Sci 2010; Volume 3: 337–339