CYP2C19 gene polymorphism may be a risk factor for bronchial asthma.

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the genetic polymorphism of CYP2C19 plays a role in susceptibility to bronchial asthma. SUBJECTS AND METHODS 104 healthy individuals who visited our hospital, including hospital staff, and 97 patients with bronchial asthma (62 atopic and 35 nonatopic) participated in this study. CYPC19*2 and CYP21C9*3 alleles were detected by using LightCycler and CYP2C19 mutation detection kits by real-time PCR with LightCycler. RESULTS The CYP2C19*3 genotype was found to be the wild type in all cases, and in the control group, the CYP2C19*2 heterozygous genotype had a 2.46-fold increased risk of bronchial asthmacompared with the CYPC19*2 homozygous wild genotype in the control group(p = 0.01, OR = 2.46, 95% CI 1.24-4.88). CONCLUSION Our data suggest that the CYP2C19*2 heterozygous genotype may be involved in the development of bronchial asthma.