Background: Stress is a risk factor for asthma. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the glucocorticoid receptor ( NR3C1 ) and in the mineralocorticoid receptor ( NR3C2 ) have been associated with cortisol responses to stress. We hypothesized therefore that these SNPs are associated with individual susceptibility to asthma development. Methods: We studied the role of a history of asthma at age 16 years and SNPs in NR3C1 (rs6196, rs10482642, rs4912903, rs6198, rs258813, rs33388, rs17100236, rs2963155, rs41423247, rs9324924, rs4244032, rs4607376) and NR3C2 (rs5522, rs2070951) in the TRAILS study (n=2,230, 49% males). History of asthma at age 16 years was defined as doctor diagnosis asthma ever assessed at age 11 years and/or symptoms of asthma and/or using asthma treatment in the past 12 months assessed at age 11, 14 and 16 years. Logistic regression analyses were performed to study the association between SNPs and asthma using initially a general model (explored further in case of p<0.10).We used an FDR cut off of p<0.05. Results: Ten percent (n=209) of all adolescents had a history of asthma at age 16. Individuals with homozygote variants for rs2070951 had a higher risk to develop asthma than individuals with heterozygote variants and wild types (GG vs CG/CC OR 1.58 (1.08-2.32), p=0.02). However, after correction for multiple testing this association was no longer significant. All other SNPs were not significantly associated with asthma. Conclusion: We showed no association between SNPs in NR3C1 or NR3C2 and asthma.
Vink et al. (Thu,) studied this question.