Effects of STIP1 and GLCCI1 polymorphisms on the risk of childhood asthma and inhaled corticosteroid response in Chinese asthmatic children

Abstract Background: Asthma is a common chronic lung disease in children. We aimed to determine the associations between stress-induced phosphoprotein 1 (STIP1) and glucocorticoid-induced transcript 1 (GLCCI1) polymorphisms and susceptibility of childhood asthma and inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) response in children. Methods: A total of 263 Chinese Han asthmatic children were recruited from the Xiangya Hospital, Central South University. Pulmonary function tests were performed before the treatment and 3 months after the treatment. 150 non-asthmatic children were recruited. Each participant's DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood and Method of MassARRAY was used to genotype the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Results: STIP1 rs2236647 wild-type homozygote (CC) was associated with increased asthma risk of children (OR=1.858，95% CI：1.205-2.864), but not associated with the ICS response. GLCCI1 rs37969, rs37972 and rs37973 polymorphisms were not associated with the risk of childhood asthma. However, rs37969 mutant genotypes (TT/GT) were significantly associated with less improvement in PD20 (p = 0.028). We also found significant associations between rs37969, rs37972 and rs37973 mutant genotypes and less improvement in maximal midexpiratory flow (MMEF) after ICS treatment for 3 months (p=0.036, p=0.010 and p=0.003, respectively). Conclusions: STIP1 rs2236647 was associated with asthma risk of children and GLCCI1 rs37969 mutant genotypes were associated with less improvement in airway hyper-responsiveness. GLCCI1 rs37969, rs37972 and rs37973 polymorphisms might be associated with pulmonary function in childhood asthma patients after ICS treatment.