Aims: The aim of this study was to summarize the currently available evidence on the associations between the IL-10-1082G/A, IL-10-592A/C, and IL-10-819G/A polymorphisms and susceptibility to atopic dermatitis (AD). Materials and Methods: Five electronic databases including PubMed, the Web of Science, Excerpta Medica dataBASE, the Cochrane Library, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched for potential studies. Studies illustrating the association of the IL-10-1082G/A, IL-10-592A/C, and IL-10-819G/A polymorphisms and AD susceptibility were included in this meta-analysis. For a study to be included, it had to have been published before September 20, 2018. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Summary odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated to evaluate potential associations under five genetic models. Results: A total of 15 case-control studies comprising of 1647 AD patients and 2031 controls were included in this meta-analysis. Their methodological qualities were generally high. We confirmed an association between the IL-10-819G/A polymorphism and AD, but there was an insignificant association identified between the IL-10-1082G/A and the IL-10-592A/C polymorphisms and AD when all ethnic groups were considered together. The subgroup analyses revealed some ethnic-specific effects. For the IL-10-819G/A polymorphism, individuals with the GG-genotype seemed to have an increased risk of AD among Caucasian populations, but less so in the Asian populations. However, for the IL-10-1082G/A polymorphism, the GG-genotype carriers seemed to be more susceptible to AD in the Asian populations than in the Caucasian populations. Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggests that the IL-10-819G/A polymorphism seems to be associated with increased risk of AD among Caucasian populations, and that the IL-10-1082G/A polymorphism seems to be correlated with AD among Asian populations.
Keywords: atopic dermatitis; interleukin-10; meta-analysis; single nucleotide polymorphism.