Background: Evidence has shown that glucocorticoid-induced transcript 1 (GLCCI1) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs37937 is associated with asthma.
Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate whether the GLCCI1 SNP rs37937 is a risk factor for allergic rhinitis (AR) in a Chinese Han population.
Methods: A total of 220 individuals including 109 AR patients and 111 healthy subjects were included. The genotyping of GLCCI1 rs37973 was performed by the SNaPshot method. The correlations of rs37973 polymorphism, AR risk, and clinical characteristics were further analyzed, as well as the treatment response to intranasal corticosteroids (INCS) in AR patients of different genotypes.
Results: Three GLCCI1 rs37973 SNP genotypes were identified in both AR patients and healthy subjects. Significant association between rs37973 polymorphism and AR under allele model, dominant model, heterozygote model, and homozygote model were shown. The A allele frequency of SNP rs37973 in AR was significantly higher than that in controls. The serum total immunoglobulin E (IgE) in AR patients of AA genotype was significantly higher than in patients of GA and GG genotype, and the serum total IgE in GA genotype was significantly higher than in GG genotype. Interestingly, after 4 weeks of INCS treatment for AR patients, the improvement of the nasal itching score, sneezing score, runny nose score, total nasal symptom score, and visual analog scale score of the GG genotype were worse than the AA or GA genotype.
Conclusion: The GLCCI1 rs37937 polymorphism is associated with the risk of developing AR and the response to INCS treatment in the Chinese Han population.
Keywords: Chinese Han population; GLCCI1; IgE; allele; allergic rhinitis; clinical characteristics; gene; genotype; intranasal corticosteroids; single nucleotide polymorphism.