To evaluate the quality of life (QOL) of children with asthma and analyze the related factors. A total of 360 children diagnosed with asthma were enrolled. We conducted the pediatric asthma quality of life questionnaire (PAQLQ). The differences in clinical characteristics between the two groups were compared. Clinical characteristics were compared between high and low QOL. More female was observed in low QOL group ( p = 0.013). Patients with higher income ( p = 0.003) were shown with higher QOL. Female patients presented significantly lower values for activity limitation ( p = 0.016) and emotional function ( p = 0.016) as compared to male patients. For patients who have low income, the QOL scores for dimensions of activity limitation was significantly worse than those have higher income ( p = 0.001). Univariable results showed that gender ( p = 0.013) and income ( p = 0.001) were factors associated with QOL in asthma children. However, multivariate analysis suggested that only gender (OR = 0.558, p = 0.008) and income (OR = 1.762, p < 0.001) were the independent factors that affected the QOL levels. In this study, we found that the QOL dimensions of pediatric asthma differed between various subpopulations. For patients with risk factors of poor QOL, target intervention is advised in order to increase QOL.

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Rationale: Many genes have been implicated in the complex development of childhood asthma, but relatively few genetic studies have focused on Hispanic populations. We conducted a genome−wide association study to identify novel candidate genes for childhood asthma in families from Mexico City. Methods: Children with asthma aged 4 to 17 years from Mexico City (n=492) and their parents (n=984) were genotyped using the Illumina HumanHap 550v3 BeadChip. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were assessed for quality control with the following thresholds: minor allele frequency (MAF)>1%, call rate>95%, Hardy Weinberg equilibrium p−value>1x10 −6 , Mendelian consistency>99.5%, and no discordancy in replicate samples. The 520,767 autosomalSNPs passing quality control were tested for association with asthma using log−linear regression with a log−additive risk model for case−parent triads. Results: As expected given the sample size, no SNP met Bonferroni corrected genome−wide significance of P=1x10 −7 . The lowest P value was observed for an intergenic SNP (MAF=8.0%) located at chromosome 16q21 (P=1.55x10 −6 ).An intronic SNP (MAF=14.8%) located in KCNB2, a gene on chromosome 8 encoding a potassium channel protein, had the second lowest P value (P=1.94x10 −6 ), followed by two intergenic SNPs (MAF=33.8%, 26.2%) located at chromosome 20q13 (P=3.52x10 −6 , 5.13x10 −6 ). Conclusions: Potassium channels are important regulators of airway smooth muscle tone and activity.Genes encoding potassium channel proteins have been previously implicated in asthma, including KCNS3 in Chinese and KCNMB1 in African−Americans. Our preliminary findings implicate another potassium channel encoding gene KCNB2 as a novel candidate gene for childhood asthma in Mexicans. Further analyses of these and other SNPs are underway.This abstract is funded by: NIEHS, CONAYCT.