Associations of IL-4, IL-4R, and IL-13 gene polymorphisms in coal workers' pneumoconiosis in China: a case-control study

Background

The IL-4, IL-4 receptor (IL4R), and IL-13 genes are crucial immune factors and may influence the course of various diseases. In the present study, we investigated the association between the potential functional polymorphisms in IL-4, IL-4R, and IL-13 and coal workers'' pneumoconiosis (CWP) risk in a Chinese population.

Methods

Six polymorphisms (C-590T in IL-4, Ile50Val, Ser478Pro, and Gln551Arg in IL-4R, C-1055T and Arg130Gln in IL-13) were genotyped and analyzed in a case-control study of 556 CWP and 541 control subjects.

Results

Our results revealed that the IL-4 CT/CC genotypes were associated with a significantly decreased risk of CWP (odds ratio (OR)?=?0.74, 95% confidence interval (CI)?=?0.58–0.95), compared with the TT genotype, particularly among subgroups of age <65 years (OR?=?0.68, 95%CI?=?0.46–0.99) and dust exposure years ≥26 years (OR?=?0.69, 95%CI?=?0.50–0.94). Moreover, the polymorphism was significantly associated with risk of CWP patients with stage I. In addition, a combined effect was observed in a dose-dependent manner with increasing numbers of risk variant alleles (P _trend?=?0.023), and individuals with 11–12 risk alleles had a 47% higher risk of CWP than those with 0–8 risk alleles (OR?=?1.47, 95% CI?=?1.05–2.05).

Conclusions

Our results suggest that the IL-4 C-590T polymorphism is involved in the etiology of CWP and susceptibility to this disease. Larger studies are warranted to validate our findings.