The PCDH1-gene and asthma in early childhood

Previous studies suggests that variants in the protocadherin-1 (PCDH1) gene, important for cell-cell adhesion, are associated with asthma, bronchial, hyperresponsiveness and atopic dermatitis in school-children.To associate common variants of the PCDH1-gene to longitudinally assessed asthma-phenotypes and atopic dermatitis in early childhood.We analysed 8 SNPs in PCDH1 from 411 children born to asthmatic mothers from the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood birth-cohort.Asthma and atopic dermatitis were diagnosed prospectively to age seven and asthma was categorized by temporal pattern: transient early respiratory symptoms, persistent symptoms, and late-onset symptoms. Bronchial responsiveness was measured at age six. We used additive genetic models.Kaplan-Meier plots revealed early onset for hetero- and homozygote for the rs10063472-T allele. Significant association was observed between the transient early phenotype and rs10063472-T (transient early vs. all: OR=1.91, CI: 1.21-3.01, p=0.0058; transient early vs. asymptomatic: OR=2.00, CI: 1.23-3.25, p=0.0053). No association was observed for other symptom patterns or bronchial responsiveness.Significant association was observed for atopic dermatitis and rs11167761-A (OR=1.85, CI: 1.24-2.75, p=0.0026).Common variations in PCDH1 increase the risk of developing both transient early asthma and atopic dermatitis in early childhood.