PLoS ONE (Oct 2010)

Variants of the FADS1 FADS2 gene cluster, blood levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids and eczema in children within the first 2 years of life.

  • Peter Rzehak,
  • Carel Thijs,
  • Marie Standl,
  • Monique Mommers,
  • Claudia Glaser,
  • Eugène Jansen,
  • Norman Klopp,
  • Gerard H Koppelman,
  • Paula Singmann,
  • Dirkje S Postma,
  • Stefanie Sausenthaler,
  • Pieter C Dagnelie,
  • Piet A van den Brandt,
  • Berthold Koletzko,
  • Joachim Heinrich,
  • KOALA study group,
  • LISA study group

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013261
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5, no. 10
p. e13261

Abstract

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BackgroundAssociation of genetic-variants in the FADS1-FADS2-gene-cluster with fatty-acid-composition in blood of adult-populations is well established. We analyze this genetic-association in two children-cohort-studies. In addition, the association between variants in the FADS-gene-cluster and blood-fatty-acid-composition with eczema was studied.Methods and principal findingsData of two population-based-birth-cohorts in The Netherlands and Germany (KOALA, LISA) were pooled (n = 879) and analyzed by (logistic) regression regarding the mutual influence of single-nucleotide-polymorphisms (SNPs) in the FADS-gene-cluster (rs174545, rs174546, rs174556, rs174561, rs3834458), on polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in blood and parent-reported eczema until the age of 2 years. All SNPs were highly significantly associated with all PUFAs except for alpha-linolenic-acid and eicosapentaenoic-acid, also after correction for multiple-testing. All tested SNPs showed associations with eczema in the LISA-study, but not in the KOALA-study. None of the PUFAs was significantly associated with eczema neither in the pooled nor in the analyses stratified by study-cohort.Conclusions and significancePUFA-composition in young children's blood is under strong control of the FADS-gene-cluster. Inconsistent results were found for a link between these genetic-variants with eczema. PUFA in blood was not associated with eczema. Thus the hypothesis of an inflammatory-link between PUFA and eczema by the metabolic-pathway of LC-PUFAs as precursors for inflammatory prostaglandins and leukotrienes could not be confirmed by these data.