Abstract
The aim of this study was to clarify the role of IL-4, IL-10, IL-13 and interferon (IFN) -gamma levels in atopic asthma patients by studying the relation between their serum levels and severity of the disease. The effect of IL-10 1082G/A and IFN-gamma +874T/A SNPs was also studied. The study included 200 atopic children with asthma and 50 age- and gender matched healthy children as controls. The levels of both IL-4 and IL-13 were significantly (p < 0.001) higher, while IFN-gamma was significantly (p < 0.001) lower in patients compared to that of the controls. There was a significant effect of gene polymorphisms of IL-10 (p < 0.05) and IFN-gamma (p < 0.001) in occurrence of atopic asthma and increased IgE level. Polymorphism of IFN-gamma gene had an effect on the serum level of IFN-gamma. In conclusion, IFN-gamma gene polymorphism at position +874 and IL-10 gene polymorphism at position -1082A/G are genetic determinants which contribute to susceptibility to atopic asthma in children from Saudi Arabia. (c) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.