Genetic variants of interleukin-18 are associated with reduced risk of atrial fibrillation in a population from Northeast China

Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects approximately 1-2% of general population. Chronic inflammation plays an important role in AF development and interleukin-18 (IL-18) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine. This study aimed to assess the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of IL-18 for with AF risk. Blood samples were taken from 243 AF patients and 160 non-AF individuals from a Chinese population and subjected to genotyping for six IL-18 SNPs using the MassArray system. Association of individual SNPs with AF risk was analyzed using SAS version 9.1. The results showed that the left atrial diameter was increased and the left ventricular ejection fraction was decreased in AF patients compared to controls. IL-18 SNPs were associated with reduced risk of AF even after adjusting for various confounding factors. Specifically, rs187238 GC genotype and C allele, rs360719 AG genotype and G allele, and rs549908 GT genotype and G allele were associated with decreased risk of AF. In conclusion, our findings indicate that rs187238, rs360719, and rs549908 in IL-18 are associated with reduced risk of AF in this cohort of patients.