CDHR3 rs6967330 risk allele influences CRS disease severity

Cadherin Related Family Member 3 (CDHR3) is the receptor for Rhinovirus-C and expressed in sinonasal epithelial cells. We have previously determined that the CDHR3 (rs6967330) base change from G to A causes a two-fold increase in the odds of adults with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and that RV-C infections result in increased CRS severity. However, the influence of the rs6967330 SNP on CRS disease is not known. We genotyped 400 physician diagnosed CRS samples that were collected from the University of Arizona ENT clinics into the risk allele (AG, AA) and wildtype (GG) groups. We selected 20 adults to be evenly distributed with known confounding factors to include: history of asthma, allergic rhinitis, presence of polyps, smoking history, age, sex, and race. We measured disease severity of the 40 patients through a retrospective EMR review between 2016-2019. Patients who presented with a sinus infection were evaluated by a nasal endoscopy and prescribed antibiotics or oral corticosteroids (OCS). Over a 3-year period, 12/40 adults required antibiotics or OCS for a sinus infection. Among the patients who experienced a sinus infection, 10/12 adults were identified of having the risk allele and were documented to have one or more sinus infections. In a retrospective study, CRS patients with the rs6967330 allele had increased rates of sinus infections. In the future, we plan to assess the association between RV infections, disease severity and the presence of the rs6967330 allele in this cohort in a prospective longitudinal study.