Association of CTLA-4 variants with susceptibility to inflammatory bowel disease: A meta-analysis

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine whether CTLA-4 gene variants were associated with susceptibility to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).MethodsMeta-analysis was conducted on the association between CTLA-4 variants and IBD using: (1) allelic contrast, (2) the recessive model, and (3) the dominant model.ResultsA total of 9 relevant studies including 1739 Crohn’s disease (CD) cases, 10 relevant studies containing 1017 ulcerative colitis (UC) cases and 2685 healthy controls were involved in this meta-analysis. Overall, CTLA-4+49A/G, −318C/T and CT60 variants were not associated with IBD susceptibility in all genetic models (P > 0.05). Stratification by ethnicity indicated a significant association between the CTLA-4+49A/G variant and CD in Caucasian group (GG vs. GA + AA: OR = 0.723, 95% CI = 0.564–0.926, P = 0.010). In Asian group, meta-analysis showed a significant association between the CTLA-4 CT60 variant and UC (AA vs. AG + GG: OR = 0.375, 95% CI = 0.163–0.861, P = 0.021).ConclusionsBased on the published literature, this meta-analysis suggests that the CTLA-4+49A/G variant may be related to CD susceptibility in Caucasians, and the CTLA-4 CT60 variant may be associated with UC susceptibility in Asians.