Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
3352029 | Human Immunology | 2006 | 7 Pages |
Abstract
Behçet's disease (BD) is an idiopathic systemic inflammatory disease and is considered to be a T helper 1 (Th1) type cytokine driven disorder. Moreover, levels of interleukin-18 (IL-18), a pivotal mediator of Th1 cytokine response, have been reported to be upregulated in BD. Therefore, we investigated the distribution of IL-18 promoter â607 C/A and â137 G/C polymorphisms in 103 BD patients (mean age 41.0 years; 48 male, 55 female) using allele-specific-polymerase chain reaction. As compared with healthy control subjects, BD patients had a significantly higher frequency of the â607 CC genotype (42.7% vs 23.3%, odds ratio [OR] = 2.455, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.350-4.461, pc = 0.021) and a higher frequency of the â607 C allele (60.7% vs 48.1%, OR = 1.668, 95% CI = 1.129-2.464, p = 0.0101). Haplotype analysis showed that BD patients had significantly less â607A/â137G haplotype (27.3% vs 44.2%, OR = 0.469, 95% CI = 0.268-0.820, pc = 0.032) and â607A/â137G haplotype homozygote (5.8% vs 20.4%, OR = 0.242, 95% CI = 0.096-0.612, pc = 0.014) than control subjects. In addition, the frequency of â607C/â137G haplotype homozygote was significantly higher in BD patients than control subjects (48.5% vs 20.4%, OR = 3.684, 95% CI = 1.997-6.791, pc = 0.0014). Although there were no associations between the polymorphisms and clinical manifestations or severity, patients with the â607 CC genotype or â607C/â137G haplotype homozygote showed significantly earlier symptom development (p = 0.034 by ANOVA; p = 0.009 by t-test, respectively) than those with other genotypes or diplotypes. These results suggest that the IL-18 promoter gene is a candidate susceptibility gene in BD patients.
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Authors
Yun Jong Lee, Seong Wook Kang, Jeong Jin Park, Young Deok Bae, Eun Young Lee, Eun Bong Lee, Yeong Wook Song,