Vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms and respiratory infections in infants

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Abstract

Background. Respiratory infections are very common in children. Currently, various studies are being conducted to determine additional markers of high incidence of respiratory infections in children. Polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor gene (VDR) are associated with the risk of developing various diseases, including infectious diseases.

Aim. To assess the relationship between VDR gene polymorphisms and the incidence of respiratory infections in infants.

Materials and methods. During the study, we assessed the number of respiratory infection episodes in the first 6 months of a child’s life, determined the FokI (rs2228570) and TaqI (rs731236) polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor gene.

Results. The results of the study showed that the presence of minor TT alleles of the FokI gene is associated with a higher frequency of respiratory infections in children in the first 6 months of life. The risk of developing 4 or more episodes of respiratory infections in the first 6 months of life was 4.8 times higher in children who had this genotype (95% CI 2.19–10.5).

Conclusion. The presence of minor TT alleles of the FokI gene is associated with a high frequency (more than 4 episodes) of respiratory infections in children in the first 6 months of life.

Full Text

Restricted Access

About the authors

Olga A. Vorobeva

Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University)

Author for correspondence.
Email: asturia777@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9292-4769

Assistant

 

Russian Federation, Moscow

Vladimir N. Drozdov

Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University)

Email: asturia777@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0535-2916

D. Sci. (Med.)

Russian Federation, Moscow

Alina S. Kiose

Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University)

Email: asturia777@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0000-3333-7767

Student

 

Russian Federation, Moscow

Ruslan E. Kazakov

Scientific Centre for Expert Evaluation of Medicinal Products

Email: asturia777@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0802-4229

Cand. Sci. (Biol.)

Russian Federation, Moscow

Evgenia V. Shikh

Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University)

Email: asturia777@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6589-7654

D. Sci. (Med.), Prof.

Russian Federation, Moscow

References

  1. Marchisio P, Nazzari E, Torretta S, et al. Medical prevention of recurrent acute otitis media: an updated overview. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2014;12(5):611-20. doi: 10.1586/14787210.2014.899902
  2. Li HB, Tai XH, Sang YH, et al. Association between vitamin D and development of otitis media: A PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis and systematic review. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016;95(40):e4739. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000004739
  3. Cayir A, Turan MI, Ozkan O, Cayir Y. Vitamin D levels in children diagnosed with acute otitis media. J Pak Med Assoc. 2014;64(11):1274-7.
  4. Martineau AR, Jolliffe DA, Hooper RL, et al. Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data. BMJ. 2017;356:i6583. doi: 10.1136/bmj.i6583
  5. Щербакова Е.М. Заболеваемость населения России, 2021–2022 годы. Демоскоп Weekly. 2023;985-6 [Morbidity rate of the population of Russia, 2021–2022. Demoscope Weekly. 2023;985-6 (in Russian)].
  6. Zheng S, Yang J, Hu X, et al. Vitamin D attenuates lung injury via stimulating epithelial repair, reducing epithelial cell apoptosis and inhibits TGF-β induced epithelial to mesenchymal transition. Biochem Pharmacol. 2020;177:113955. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2020.113955
  7. . Di Rosa M, Malaguarnera M, Nicoletti F, Malaguarnera L. Vitamin D3: a helpful immuno-modulator. Immunology. 2011;134:123-39. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2567.2011.03482.x
  8. Kresfelder TL, Janssen R, Bont L, Venter M. Confirmation of an association between single nucleotide polymorphisms in the VDR gene with respiratory syncytial virus related disease in South African children. J Med Virol. 2011;83:1834-40. doi: 10.1002/jmv.22179
  9. Leiter K, Franks K, Borland ML, et al. Vitamin D receptor polymorphisms are associated with severity of wheezing illnesses and asthma exacerbations in children. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2020;5:105692. doi: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2020.105692
  10. Poon AH, Laprise C, Lemire M, et al. Association of vitamin D receptor genetic variants with susceptibility to asthma and atopy. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2004;170:967-73. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200403-412OC
  11. Li W, Guo L, Li H, et al. Polymorphism rs2239185 in vitamin D receptor gene is associated with severe community-acquired pneumonia of children in Chinese Han population: a case-control study. Eur J Pediatr. 2015;174:621-9. doi: 10.1007/s00431-014-2433-0
  12. McNally JD, Sampson M, Matheson LA, et al. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms and severe RSV bronchiolitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2014;49(8):790-9. doi: 10.1002/ppul.22877
  13. Roth DE, Jones AB, Prosser C, et al. Vitamin D receptor polymorphisms and the risk of acute lower respiratory tract infection in early childhood. J Infect Dis. 2008;197:676-80. doi: 10.1086/527488
  14. Abouzeid H, Abdelaal NM, Abdou MA, et al. Association of vitamin D receptor gene fokI polymorphism and susceptibility to CAP in Egyptian children: a multicenter study. Pediatr Res. 2018;84:639-44. doi: 10.1038/s41390-018-0149-y

Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
Action
1. JATS XML
2. Fig. 1. Proportion of patients (%) with 4 diseases or more in groups of children with different polymorphisms of TaqI (rs731236) and FokI (rs2228570) genes.

Download (75KB)

Copyright (c) 2025 Consilium Medicum

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

СМИ зарегистрировано Федеральной службой по надзору в сфере связи, информационных технологий и массовых коммуникаций (Роскомнадзор).
Регистрационный номер и дата принятия решения о регистрации СМИ: серия ПИ № ФС 77 - 74329 от 19.11.2018 г.