Thymic stromal lymphopoietin polymorphisms and allergic rhinitis risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis with 6351 cases and 11472 controls

Previous studies suggested a close association between the thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) genetic variants and allergic diseases. Here, we explored the correlation between the TSLP polymorphisms and allergic rhinitis susceptibility using meta-analysis. We searched PubMed, Ovid, Cochrane libraries, CNKI, Wanfang, and CQVIP databases until Apr 19, 2015. Quality assessment was conducted for each article according to the Strengthening the Reporting of Genetic Association studies (STREGA). The pooled measure was calculated as the inverse variance-weighted mean of the logarithm of the OR with 95% CI to assess the strength of association between TSLP polymorphisms and the risk of allergic rhinitis. Five case-control studies with 6351 cases and 11472 controls were included in this study. TSLP rs1898671 polymorphism was significantly associated with an increased risk of allergic rhinitis (OR=1.13; 95% CI, 1.07-1.20; P<0.0001). In the subgroup analysis by race, TSLP rs1898671 polymorphism was significantly associated with an increased risk of allergic rhinitis in Caucasian (OR=1.14; 95% CI, 1.08-1.21; P<0.00001). In the subgroup analysis by age group, adult individuals with TSLP rs1898671 polymorphism showed increased risk of allergic rhinitis (OR=1.13; 95% CI, 1.07-1.21; P<0.0001). Because only one study investigated the association between other SNPs in TSLP and allergic rhinitis risk, the meta-analyses were not performed. In summary, we demonstrated that TSLP rs1898671 polymorphism was associated with a higher risk for allergic rhinitis.