KIF3A genetic variation is associated with pediatric asthma in the presence of eczema independent of allergic rhinitis

[...]the lack of data regarding AR was acknowledged as a limitation in a recently published meta-analysis focused on progression from eczema to asthma.5 Herein, we elucidated the associations between KIF3A single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and asthma, eczema, and AR, alone and in combination, in the Greater Cincinnati Pediatric Clinic Repository (GCPCR), a well-phenotyped biorepository of more than 7000 children, and controls from the Genomic Control Cohort (GCC), a population-based cohort of 1020 children. [...]none of the KIF3A SNPs was associated with asthma + AR (Fig 1, A). [...]the increased association of KIF3A with asthma in the presence of comorbidity is specific for asthma + eczema. Many of the GCPCR children with an eczema-only diagnosis were still of preschool age at the time of data collection, and thus unlikely to have developed asthma. [...]the pure eczema group was limited to children for whom we had follow-up until at least age 7 years. [...]subsequent analyses were focused on rs2299007. There was a significant relationship between rs2299007 and asthma + eczema (n = 180) Asthma without eczema (n = 392) Pure eczema (n = 63) Asthma + AR (n = 407) Asthma without AR (n = 146) Pure AR (n = 128) OR P value OR P value OR P value OR P value OR P value OR P value OR P value rs2023823 1.30 .02 1.51 .003 1.10 .46 1.52 .044 1.23 .10 1.55 .007 1.21 .26 rs2237059 1.53 .003 1.84 .0004 1.23 .23 1.40 .23 1.39 .04 1.87 .002 1.47 .07...