The association between living <200 m from a major road and current asthma and wheeze was more marked for carriers of the <i>GSTT1</i> null and <i>GSTP1 val</i>/<i>val</i> or <i>ile</i>/<i>val</i> genotypes.
Few studies evaluated wheezing and BHR and most reported no associations, although weak evidence was found for positive associations of GSTM1 null and GSTP1 Val allele with wheezing and a negative association of GSTP1 Val allele with BHR.
Variants in both the promoter and coding regions of the GSTP1 locus may contribute to the occurrence of childhood asthma and wheezing and may increase susceptibility to adverse effects of tobacco-smoke exposure.
Children carrying any GSTP1 Val-105 allele were at a significantly greater risk of both ever and current wheezing when exposed to ETS, with a clear dose-response relationship to the number of smokers at home.
To investigate the association of TNF G-308A with asthma and wheezing and to determine whether these associations vary with ozone exposure and GSTM1 and GSTP1 genotype.
Among children with MPP, we found similar level of IL-4 regardless of the personal and family history of allergy and asthma or the presence of wheezing.
Association between the TT-genotype of IL-4rs2070874 polymorphism and a severe phenotype of viral-induced wheeze further underlines the role IL-4 plays in the inflammation pathway leading to viral respiratory infections.
In African-American infants with a family history of atopy, the interaction of ETS and IL-4C-589T demonstrated a 10-fold risk associated with wheezing without a cold.
These results support the hypothesis that severe RSV disease might be related to increased Th2 response, which is perhaps mediated by overexpression of IL-4, and provide preliminary evidence for a genetic link between severe RSV disease and subsequent wheezing.
Serum levels of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α), Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Epidermal growth factor (EGF), forced expiratory volume-one second (FEV<sub>1</sub>) and respiratory symptoms including; Chest wheeze (CW), night wheeze (NW), night cough (NC) and cough and wheeze during exercise (ECW) were assessed at the baseline (step 0), one and two months after starting treatment (step I and II, respectively).
Furthermore, wheezing children with MPP had a significantly higher level of IL-10 than children with MPP without wheezing (43.75±26.644 vs. 27.50±10.211 pg/ml, p=0.027).