Introduction: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a proinflammatory cytokine that plays an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma. Polymorphisms associated with inflammatory diseases exist in the promoter region of MIF, which alter its expression. We aimed to study the association of MIF promoter polymorphism –173G/C with childhood asthma.
Material and methods: In this case-control study, we recruited 60 pediatric patients with bronchial asthma and 90 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. MIF-173G/C was genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).
Results: Genotype distribution between cases and healthy controls was statistically evaluated. Our results revealed that the frequency of the MIF-173C allele was significantly higher in children with asthma than in the control group (p = 0.002, odds ratio [OR] = 3.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.63-7.97). The frequency of the MIF-173CC genotype was higher in the asthmatic children than in the controls (p = 0.028, OR = 6.24, 95% CI = 1.24-31.29). Comparing carriage of the MIF-173C allele in pediatric patients with asthma with that observed in healthy controls (GC + CC vs. GG) revealed a positive association with the disease (p = 0.019, OR = 3.12, 95% CI = 1.22-7.99).
Conclusions: These results suggest that MIF-173G/C polymorphism confers an increased risk of susceptibility to the development of childhood asthma in an Egyptian population.