Affiliations: Centre for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine,
University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany | St. Josefs Hospital, Freiburg, Germany
Note: [] Corresponding author: Dr. Andrea Heinzmann, Centre for
Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Mathildenstr. 1, D-79106 Freiburg, Germany.
Tel.: +49 761 2706371; Fax: +49 761 2706372; E-mail:
andrea.heinzmann@uniklinik-freiburg.de
Abstract: Toll like receptors (TLRs) are an essential part of the innate
immune response. So far, ten different TLRs were identified in humans. They
recognize a wide range of microbial and viral pathogens. Infection by
respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is still a major health problem, about 2% of
all children are hospitalised due to RSV bronchiolitis during their first 2
years of live. TLR4 has already been described in association with RSV
associated diseases by us and others. Thus we were interested whether other TLRs are also involved in the
genetics of severe RSV infection. We genotyped 19 polymorphisms in the
autosomal TLRs, these are TLR1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9 and 10. Association analyses by
the Armitage's Trend test revealed weak association of one TLR9 promoter
polymorphism with RSV infection (p = 0.013). In addition, association was found
with TLR10 haplotypes (p = 0.024). We conclude from our data – that – although we can not
rule out a minor involvement of TLR9 polymorphism and TLR10 haplotypes –
TLRs other than TLR4 do not play a major role in the genetics of severe RSV
associated diseases. Future studies should focus on additional genes of the
innate immune response.
Keywords: Toll like receptor (TLR), polymorphisms, association, RSV
