Glucocorticoid receptor polymorphism in patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Venezuela

Abstract

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are diseases characterized by airfl ow obstruction and chronic infl ammation and appear as a result of the interaction of different genes with multiple environmental elements. Inhaled glucocorticoids are used in the management of asthma and COPD, but some patients show little response to these medications; this individual variability in drug response may have a genetic basis. Some polymorphisms in the glucocorticoid receptor gene have been studied that could determine the appearance of these pathologies and the response to treatment. Objectives: To determine the association of BclI polymorphism with the development of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Methods: We studied 100 patients with asthma, 100 patients with COPD, and 100 Venezuelan mestizo controls. Genotypic characterization of Glucocorticoid Receptor +647 G/C was performed by Polymerase Chain Reaction technique and subsequent digestion of amplicons by BclI enzyme. Results: Signifi cant differences were found between the two groups of patients and the control individuals, being
observed a higher frequency of the homozygous GG genotype in patients with asthma with respect to patients with COPD (OR=10,5238; IC95%:4,7801- 23,1688) and the control individuals (OR=16,3061; IC95%:6,5393-40,6601) and a lower frequency of the heterozygous GG genotype in patients with asthma.