IL-4 rs2243250 polymorphism associated with susceptibility to allergic rhinitis: a meta-analysis

Objective: The relationship between IL-4 rs2243250 polymorphism and the risk of allergic rhinitis is not clear at present. The present study aims to evaluate the exact association between IL-4 rs2243250 polymorphism and susceptibility to allergic rhinitis by a meta-analysis. Methods: The studies about IL-4 rs2243250 polymorphism associated with susceptibility to allergic rhinitis were searched using PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and China Wanfang databases. The last search time was on March 1, 2021. Data analysis was performed using Stata 15.0 software. Results: Nine documents were enrolled, from which 1709 patients with allergic rhinitis were included. Among them, six genotype frequencies in the control group conformed to Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE). The meta-analysis of all included studies showed significant heterogeneity of each gene model. After omitting the studies whose genotype frequency in the control group did not meet the requirements of HWE, no significant heterogeneity was found in each gene model. The meta-analysis results of the control group genotypes in line with the HWE showed statistically significant differences in the pooled odds ratio (OR) of allele model (T vs. C), recessive model (TT vs. TC+CC) and homozygous model (TT vs. CC), which were 1.19 (95%CI: 1.04–1.35), 1.28 (95%CI: 1.06–1.55) and 1.56 (95%CI: 1.13–2.17), respectively. No statistically significant difference was observed in dominant and heterozygous genetic models. Conclusion: IL-4 rs2243250 single nucleotide polymorphism associated with susceptibility to allergic rhinitis, allele T and genotype TT could increase the risk of allergic rhinitis.