BACKGROUND: Early exposure to microbes reduces the risk for asthma. Toll-like receptors
(TLRs) represent a major group of receptors for the specific recognition of pathogen-
associated molecular patterns of microbes capable of activating innate and adaptive
immunity. OBJECTIVE: Because TLRs can influence key events in the induction and
perpetuation of asthma and atopy, we sought to determine whether genetic alterations in
TLR genes affect asthma risk. METHODS: We systematically evaluated putatively functional …