Interleukin-4 -589C/T Polymorphism is Associated with Increased Pediatric Asthma Risk: A Meta-Analysis

IL4 -589C/T polymorphism has been implicated in susceptibility to pediatric asthma risk. Several studies investigated the association of this polymorphism with pediatric asthma in different populations. However, the results were contradictory. A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the association between IL4 -589C/T polymorphism and pediatric asthma risk. Databases including Pubmed, EMBASE, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wangfang were searched to find relevant studies. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of associations. A significant association was found between IL4 -589C/T polymorphism and pediatric asthma risk (OR = 1.53, 95% CI 1.27–1.85). In the subgroup analyses by ethnicity, the significant association was found among Caucasians (OR = 1.70, 95 % CI 1.38–2.09) and Asians (OR = 1.58, 95 % CI 1.23–2.04). Our results suggested that IL4 -589C/T polymorphism conferred a risk factor of pediatric asthma.