IL-10 Gene Polymorphism Is Associated With Preschool Atopy and Early-Life Recurrent Wheezing After Bronchiolitis in Infancy

Summary Background Variations in the genes that regulate innate immunity responses may be associated with susceptibility to asthma or atopy after early-life bronchiolitis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between four different polymorphisms of the IL-10 gene at rs1800871, rs1800872, rs1800890, and rs1800896, either alone or in combination, and post-bronchiolitis asthma or allergies at 5–7 years of age. Methods Data on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of IL-10 rs1800896 (−1082G/A), rs1800871 (−819C/T), rs1800872 (−592C/A), and IL-10 rs1800890 (−3575T/A) were available for 135 children. Polymorphisms and their associations with asthma and allergies were studied in 135 preschool-aged children who had been hospitalized for bronchiolitis at age 0–6 months. Their parents were interviewed to record the children's history with asthma and allergies from infancy to the present. Results At 6.4 years (mean), asthma was present in 17 children (12.6%), while recurrent wheezing during the first 7 years of life was present in 39 (28.9%) children. Fifty-three (39.3%) study participants had current atopy (atopic eczema or allergic rhinitis). Eight (72%) of 11 children with the IL-10 rs1800896, IL-10 rs1800871, and IL-10 rs1800872 combination AA + CT + CA had current atopy (P = 0.02 vs. 38% in other genotype combinations). Twenty-three (56%) children with the IL-10 rs1800871C/T or IL-10 rs1800872C/A genotype had present atopy versus 34 (38%) with other IL-10 genotypes (P = 0.03). Between 2 years and 3 years of age, 27% of ATA haplotype carriers had asthma versus 13.7% of other haplotype carriers (P = 0.02). Conclusions IL-10 polymorphisms at rs1800871, rs1800872, rs1800890, and rs1800896 seem to be associated with elevated allergies and/or recurrent wheezing risk in later childhood, after early-life bronchiolitis. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2016; 9999:XX–XX. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.