Association between the -112G/A polymorphism of uteroglobulin-related protein 1 gene and asthma risk: A meta-analysis

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between the -112G/A polymorphism of the uteroglobulin-related protein 1 (UGRP1) gene and asthma risk using meta-analysis. PubMed, BIOSIS Previews and EBSCOhost were searched, and data were extracted independently by two reviewers. Odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of the associations. Statistical analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.2 and STATA 11.0 software. Six studies, involving 816 cases and 1,165 controls, were included in the analysis. The meta-analysis showed a significant correlation between the UGRP1-112G/A polymorphism and asthma for AA versus GG (P=0.01) and AA versus GA/GG (P=0.02). Furthermore, stratification by ethnicity revealed a significant correlation between the -112G/A polymorphism and asthma for A versus G (P=0.02), AA versus GG (P=0.01) and AA versus GA/GG (P=0.03) in Asians, but not in Caucasians. When stratified by atopy, a significant correlation was observed for A versus G (P=0.02) and AA/GA versus GG (P=0.04) in the mixed group. No correlation was observed for age stratification. Results of the current meta-analysis indicate that the -112G/A polymorphism of the UGRP1 gene is likely to contribute to asthma risk, particularly in the Asian population.