VOLUME 72 : 2024

Allergic asthma is a multifactorial immune disorder triggered by exposure to environmental allergens
but controlled by genetic factors. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the FOXO3a gene has been
implicated to a role in the pathogenesis of allergic asthma. This study is a meta-analysis of the FOXO3a
SNP rs13217795 and its association with allergic asthma. A comprehensive search was conducted to
identify 4094 studies of FOXO3a SNP and allergic asthma but rigid screening limited to a total of five
(5) studies published from 2015-2020 were selected. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence

intervals (CIs) were calculated by comparing the minor (T) and major (C) alleles, and genotypes. Meta-
analysis of the overall population revealed no significant association between patients carrying the CT

and TT genotypes, and the T allele with asthma development (OR=1.29, CI=0.54-3.09, p=0.56; OR=3.71,
CI=0.95-14.46, p=0.06; OR=1.77, CI=0.89-3.52, p=0.10, respectively). However, subgroup analysis
in the West and South Asian populations showed a significant association between the mutant (TT)
genotype and T allele with asthma (OR=9.04, CI=1.92-42.70, p=0.005, OR=2.56, CI=1.10-5.97, p=0.03,
respectively). The results indicate that FOXO3a is not universally associated with asthma development.
The TT genotype and T allele of the rs13217795 is a risk factor for developing allergic asthma in the West
and South Asian populations only.