Objective: Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 6 signaling pathway is required for mediating the biologic functions of interleukin (IL)-4 which is proved to play an important role in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases and the induction of specific immunoglobulin (Ig) E synthesis. The current studies are conducted to evaluate the relationship between polymorphisms of STAT6, specific IgE and penicillin allergy.
Materials and methods: In 242 patients with penicillin allergy and 220 controls, polymorphisms of STAT6 in2SNP3 and 3'UTRSNP3 were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction- restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Eight kinds of specific IgE to penicillins were detected with radioallergosorbent test (RAST).
Results: For STAT6 in2SNP3, the frequency of the CC genotype was significantly higher in all patients than in controls (60 vs. 47%, p = 0.005). A similar result was observed between patients of the urticaria group and controls (70 vs. 47%, p = 0.005). With respect to allele frequency, the C-allele occurred more frequently in all patients and in the urticaria group than in controls (78 vs. 69%, p = 0.002; 83 vs. 69%, p = 0.007).
Conclusions: Our finding suggests that STAT6 in2SNP3 is associated with penicillin allergy, but has no effect on the specific IgE levels of patients with penicillin allergy.