Analysis of IL-13 gene polymorphisms in pediatric patients with food allergy.

Food allergies represent immune-mediated adverse reactions to dietary proteins, with incompletely elucidated causes and etiopathogenic mechanisms, and have a significant negative impact on the quality of life of children and their families. The aim of the study was to assess the associations between IL-13 gene single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs20541 and rs1800925 and the risk of developing IgE-mediated or non-IgE-mediated food allergies, as well as other patient characteristics. The study included 115 healthy controls and 165 children with food allergy, divided into two groups based on the presence of either IgE-mediated (N=85) or non-IgE-mediated (N=80) food allergy, all of Romanian origin. Genotyping of the two SNPs was performed using Real-Time PCR with TaqMan Allelic Discrimination Assays. OpenEpi and PLINK v1.07 were used for the statistical analysis. The frequency of carriers of the minor allele T of rs1800925 was significantly higher in patients with non-IgE-mediated food allergy (50% vs. 35.6%, p=0.04, OR=1.8). CT heterozygotes of rs1800925 were at high risk for non-IgE-mediated food allergy compared to CC and TT homozygotes (p=0.01, OR=2.13). No associations were found with IgE-mediated food allergy. The present study investigates for the first time IL-13 gene SNPs in non-IgE-mediated food allergy. The results provide evidence that variation in the IL-13 gene is involved in the pathogenesis of this disease. Further investigation is required to confirm these findings.