Like other allergic diseases, asthma results from multiple conditions. Its susceptibility and severity are mediated by both environmental and genetic factors. In asthma studies, the important work is realization of the genetic background and identification of genetic factors resulting in asthma development and phenomena. Here, we investigated whether the single nucleotide polymorphism IL-18 (-137G/C) is associated with asthma in Algerian population. IL-18 (-137G/C) SNP was detected by polymerase chain reaction with sequence specific primers analysis (PCR-SSP) in 170 patients with asthma and 170 normal controls. Our results showed a significant difference in the genotype distribution of IL-18 SNP between asthma patients and controls (χ2 = 10.80, P = 0.005). The Allelic frequency of the G allele was significantly higher in the asthma group compared to the controls (χ2 = 10.468, P = 0.001, OR = 1.694, 95% CI (1.230-2.335). The results revealed that there is a possible association of IL-18 (-137G/C) with asthma in the studied population. This polymorphism can be considered as a marker of susceptibility to asthma. More studies in larger populations are needed to confirm our results.
 

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