Association of cytokine gene polymorphisms with bronchopulmonary dysplasia in Han Chinese newborns

Objective: To investigate the association of 14 cytokine gene polymorphisms with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) among Han Chinese newborns. The 14 polymorphisms investigated were IL18 rs1946519, rs1946518, rs187238, rs360718, and rs360717 polymorphisms, IL10 rs3024493 polymorphism, IL6 rs1800795, rs1800796, and rs1800797 polymorphisms, TNF rs361525 and rs1800629 polymorphisms, and TGFB1 rs1800469, rs1800468, and rs1800471 polymorphisms.

Working hypothesis: The polymorphisms could be associated with the risk of BPD among Han Chinese newborns.

Study design, patient-subject selection, and methodology: This is a retrospective study. Genotyping of these polymorphisms were performed on BPD cases (N = 1022) and non-BPD controls (N = 1039) who were ascertained using the established Jobe and Bancalari criteria. The odds ratios (ORs) of polymorphisms whose genotype distribution in the controls fulfilled the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) were calculated to evaluate the strengths of genetic association.

Results: Genotype distributions of IL6 rs1800795 and rs1800797 polymorphisms deviated significantly from HWE and were omitted from the analysis. Among the 12 remaining polymorphisms, only TNF rs361525 polymorphism demonstrated a statistically significant association with BPD risk. The heterozygous GA genotype of TNF rs361525 polymorphism showed an OR of 1.932 (1.512-2.470), while the homozygous AA variant genotype showed an OR of 2.927 (1.216-7.048) (P = 0.000 and P = 0.017, respectively). Besides, the allelic OR was also analyzed, and it was found that the variant A allele of TNF rs361525 polymorphism showed an OR of 2.146 (1.718-2.680) (P = 0.000).

Conclusion: TNF rs361525 polymorphism could influence BPD risk among Han Chinese newborns.