Interleukin 17Agene variations and lung function at school age after bronchiolitis in infancy

Interleukin 17A (IL-17A) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine of the IL-17 family predominantly secreted by T helper 17 cells. IL-17A is involved with the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases such as asthma but seems to decrease the disease severity of bronchiolitis. [1] In our previous studies, the IL17A rs2275913 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was associated with asthma risk at 11-13 years of age, but not earlier at 5-7 years of age, in the cohort of originally 166 children hospitalised for bronchiolitis at younger than six months of age. [2] The IL17A rs4711998 and rs8193036 SNPs were also studied and they did not show any such associations at either age. [3].