Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology 1735-1502 14 6 2015 11 29 569 580 EN Qian Zhang Department of Respiratory Medicine, Affiliated Changzhou No.2 People’s Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, China AND Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command, Nanjing, China Fen-Hong Qian Department of Respiratory Medicine, Affiliated Jiangbing Hospital, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China Xiao-Wei Yin Department of Respiratory Medicine, Affiliated Changzhou No.2 People’s Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, China Qi Cao Department of Respiratory Medicine, Affiliated Changzhou No.2 People’s Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, China Jian-Ling Bai Department of epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China Qiang Du Department of Respiratory Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing , China Yi Shi Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command, Nanjing, China 2015 10 16 2015 10 17 Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 and 8 mediate anti-virus immunity and are of particular relevance to asthma. However, very little information about genetic association on TLR7/8 and asthma are available. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of polymorphisms in TLR7 and 8 on asthma risk and asthma-related phenotypes in a Chinese Han population. We enrolled 462 unrelated adult asthmatic patients and 398 healthy volunteers. The genotypes of tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TLR7 and 8 genes were determined using multiplex SNaPshot SNP genotyping assay. We used case-control and case-only studies to assess any links with asthma and asthma-related phenotypes. There was no association between the variants in TLR7 and 8 and asthma susceptibility. However, our results revealed that the genetic variants in TLR7 and 8 were associated with asthma-related phenotypes, including eosinophil counts, serum immunoglobulin E levels, lung function, and asthma severity as well. Our study suggests that TLR7 and 8 polymorphisms may play a considerable role in the pathogenesis of asthma. It will help in better understanding the pathogenesis of asthma and development of more effective strategies for asthma prevention, prediction, and therapy. https://ijaai.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijaai/article/view/562 https://ijaai.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijaai/article/download/562/573