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Background: The T cell immunoglobulin mucin (TIM) gene family is involved in T cell proliferation and differentiation and has been implicated in allergic disease. We have tested whether TIM gene polymorphisms are associated with atopic dermatitis (AD) in an Australian cohort. Methods: Transmission disequilibrium testing of 15 single nucleotide polymorphisms across TIM-1, TIM-3 and TIM-4 in 93 Caucasian families, and of a tri-allelic (0, 15 and 18 base pairs) TIM-1 insertion polymorphism in 123 Caucasian and Asian families, was carried out in proband-parent trio families. Results: Transmission of the 18-base pair variant of this insertion was significantly under-represented in the childhood AD cohort (p = 0.02), which is in agreement with a previous study on asthma in an African-American cohort. We also found a novel association between AD and the major haplotype of TIM-4 (p = 0.016). There was no evidence for an association between AD and TIM-3. Conclusions: In addition to confirming the importance of genetic variation in TIM-1, our results also suggest that genetic variants in the ligand for TIM-1, TIM-4, also contribute to the presentation of AD and related disorders.

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