Interleukin 13 gene polymorphism and susceptibility to asthma: a meta-regression and meta-analysis

Background. Previously, lots of studies researched the association of interleukin (IL) 13 gene polymorphisms and the risk of asthma, yielding incongruent outcomes. Objective. To resolve the inconsistency among the different studies, we performed the most up-to-date meta-analysis of IL13 gene rs20541 and rs1800925 polymorphisms and susceptibility to asthma. Methods. After a systematic literature search up to September 2020, the pooled odds ratio (OR) and their corresponding 95% CI were extracted to determine the association level. Results. Overall, 45 (containing 10572 cases and 11575 healthy controls) and 31 (containing 10139 cases and 13304 healthy controls) case-control studies for rs20541 and rs1800925 polymorphisms, respectively, were retrieved. Pooled analysis indicated statistically significant association of rs20541 with asthma in the overall analysis. According to the subgroup analysis, significant association was detected between rs20541 polymorphism in European population across dominant model, allelic model, and GA vs GG model. A strongly significant association between rs20541 polymorphism and asthma risk was identified in Asian population under all genetic models except heterozygote model. There was significant association between rs20541 polymorphism and asthma risk in dominant, allelic and heterozygote models for Caucasians. The rs1800925 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was associated with asthma risk in some genetic models for the overall, Asian, and European populations. Conclusions. Both rs20541 and rs1800925 polymorphisms of IL13 gene confer a risk factor for asthma in different populations.