Childhood-onset asthma is frequently found in association with atopy. Although asthmatic children may develop IgE antibodies against variety of allergens, asthma is associated primarily with allergy to house-dust mites, molds, or other allergens. In this study, we conducted a genome-wide linkage search in 47 Japanese families (197 members) with more than two mite-sensitive atopic asthmatics (65 affected sib-pairs) using 398 markers. Multipoint linkage analysis was carried out for atopic asthma as a qualitative trait using the MAPMAKER/SIB program. We observed significant evidence for linkage with maximum lod scores (MLS) of 4.8 near the interleukin 12 B gene locus on chromosome 5q31-q33. In addition, suggestive evidence on 4q35 with MLS = 2.7 and on 13q11 with MLS = 2.4 was obtained. The other possible linkage regions included 6p22-p21.3 (MLS = 2.1), 12q21-q23 (MLS = 1.9), and 13q14.1-q14.3 (MLS = 2.0). Many of the linkage loci suggested in this study were at or close to those suggested by genome-wide studies for asthma in Caucasian populations. The present study suggests the contribution of the interleukin 12 B gene or nearby gene(s) to mite-sensitive atopic asthma and a considerable number of genetic variants common across Caucasians and Japanese populations contributing to asthma, although the relative importance of various variants may differ between the groups.
Susceptibility to atopic diseases is known to involve genetic factors. The interleukin-4 (IL-4) receptor- alpha gene (IL4R) reportedly is involved in the development of atopy. A recent study has shown the Ile50 allele of a polymorphism (Ile50Val) of IL4R to be associated with atopy. The objective of this study was to replicate this association and confirm the possible role of the Ile50Val polymorphism of IL4R in the etiology of atopic asthma in a Japanese population. We conducted a transmission disequilibrium test in 86 families identified through asthmatic children. A case-control study was also carried out using both atopic and control subjects. The IL4R Ile50Val polymorphism was genotyped by a PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism method using an intronic upstream primer. The IL4R Ile50 allele was not preferentially transmitted to atopy- or to asthma-affected children. Neither the Ile50 allele nor the Ile50/Ile50 genotype was more prevalent in the atopic subjects than in the control subjects. Our findings indicate that the Ile50Val polymorphism of IL4R does not play a substantial role in genetic predisposition for the etiology of atopy or asthma in this Japanese population.
Our findings indicate that the IL-4 receptor alpha gene does not exert a substantial influence on the inheritance of atopy or asthma in this Japanese population.
An 8-month-old boy with a left-sided incarcerated inguinal hernia involving the appendix, cecum, and terminal ileum was successfully managed via an inguinal approach during an emergency operation. A mobile cecum seemed to have contributed to the left-sided incarceration. Only 13 similar cases with the left-sided Amyand’s hernia have been reported in the literature.
We describe a Japanese boy with ring chromosome 18 in whom abnormal myelination was observed on magnetic resonance imaging. Cytogenetic investigation revealed 46, XY, r(18) (p11.2 q21.33). T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scan of the brain demonstrated high signal intensity consistent with abnormal myelination. Microsatellite marker analysis of DNA demonstrated only one copy of the myelin basic protein gene, derived from the mother. The present case indicates that a hemizygous state for the myelin protein gene may be related to the abnormal myelination.
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