Influence of β2-adrenoceptor polymorphisms on the response to chronic use of albuterol in asthmatic children
Abstract
Background
Several studies have suggested that after regular use of short acting β2-agonists the bronchodilator effect of the drug may decline and this condition would be related to polymorphisms of the β2-adrenergic receptor (β2-AR).
Objective
To assess the frequency of β2-AR polymorphisms in asthmatic children from Argentina, and to evaluate their influence on bronchodilator desensitization to albuterol over a 4-week treatment.
Methods
β2-AR genotypes were determined in 117 children with asthma and 101 of them were under 4 weeks treatment with albuterol. Spirometric changes in FEV1 were recorded at the beginning (day 1) and at the end of the study (day 30) and compared to genotypes at position 16 and 27 of the receptor. The frequency of the polymorphisms was calculated in all population.
Results
The presence of glutamine at position 27 (Gln27) was significantly more frequent in this Argentinean study population than in other Caucasian populations. The homozygosity for Gln27 polymorphism was associated to a desensitization of the receptor with a decline in the bronchodilator response to albuterol after chronic use.
Conclusion
Gln27 polymorphism might be a marker for adverse clinical outcomes with chronic β2-agonist exposure in children with asthma from Argentina. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2008; 43:421–425. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
