PURPOSE Reported associations of interleukin-18 (IL-18) single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with allergic rhinitis (AR) have been inconsistent, prompting a meta-analysis to obtain more precise estimates. METHODS We synthesized data from 8 articles and examined 3 IL-18 SNPs. Two SNPs (rs360721 and rs187238), in linkage disequilibrium, were combined and termed RS1. The rs1946518 SNP was analyzed separately (termed RS2). The recessive, dominant, and codominant (multiplicative) genetic models were used to estimate ORs and 95% CIs. Subgroup analysis was ethnicity-based. Sources of heterogeneity were investigated with outlier treatment. Sensitivity analysis was used to assess robustness of the associative effects. Multiple comparisons were Holm-Bonferroni corrected. RESULTS All significant (pa < 0.05) outcomes indicating increased risks were found in the dominant/codominant models in RS1 and RS2. Five aspects of differences marked the significant African (RS1) and overall (RS2) outcomes: (i) magnitude of effect (ORs): greater (3.01-5.15) versus less (1.20-1.47); (ii) precision of -effects (95% CIs): less (1.07-21.52) versus more (1.01-1.89); (iii) outlier treated: no versus yes; (iv) sensitivity outcomes: nonrobust versus robust (dominant model only); and (v) greater evidential strength for RS2 (pa = 0.002) compared to RS1 (pa = 0.02) rendered RS2 our core finding. These levels of statistical significance for RS1/RS2 enabled both to survive the Holm-Bonferroni correction. CONCLUSIONS The core outcome indicating a 1.5-fold increased risk could render the IL-18 polymorphisms useful in the clinical genetics of AR. Future studies that could focus on other IL-18 SNPs may find deeper associations with AR than what we found here.

中文翻译：

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白细胞介素18基因多态性对过敏性鼻炎的影响：一项荟萃分析。

目的已报道的白介素18（IL-18）单核苷酸多态性（SNP）与过敏性鼻炎（AR）的关联不一致，促使进行荟萃分析以获得更精确的估计。方法我们合成了8篇文章的数据并检查了3种IL-18 SNP。处于连锁不平衡状态的两个SNP（rs360721和rs187238）组合在一起，称为RS1。单独分析了rs1946518 SNP（称为RS2）。隐性，显性和共性（乘法）遗传模型用于估计OR和95％CI。亚组分析是基于种族的。异质性的来源进行了离群处理。敏感性分析用于评估关联效应的鲁棒性。多项比较均经过Holm-Bonferroni校正。结果所有显着（pa <0。05）在RS1和RS2的显性/显性模型中发现了表明风险增加的结果。差异的五个方面标志着非洲（RS1）和总体（RS2）的显着结果：（i）影响程度（OR）：较大（3.01-5.15）对较小（1.20-1.47）；（ii）效果的精确度（95％CI）：少（1.07-21.52）比多（1.01-1.89）；（iii）异常值：否与是；（iv）敏感性结果：非稳健与稳健（仅占主导地位的模型）；（v）与RS1（pa = 0.02）相比，RS2的证据强度更高（pa = 0.002），这使RS2成为我们的核心发现。RS1 / RS2的这些统计显着性水平使这两个标准都能够在Holm-Bonferroni校正中幸存下来。结论表明风险增加1.5倍的核心结果可能使IL-18多态性可用于AR的临床遗传学。