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Lack of association between pro‐inflammatory cytokine (IL‐6, IL‐8 and TNF‐α) gene polymorphisms and Graves’ disease
Author(s) -
Chen R.H.,
Chen W.C.,
Wang T.Y.,
Tsai C.H.,
Tsai F.J.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
international journal of immunogenetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.41
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1744-313X
pISSN - 1744-3121
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-313x.2005.00536.x
Subject(s) - gene , allele , tumor necrosis factor alpha , cytokine , pathogenesis , genotype , biology , immunology , promoter , untranslated region , graves' disease , interleukin , gene expression , genetics , disease , medicine , thyroid , messenger rna
Summary Graves’ disease (GD) is a common, autoimmune disease involving the thyroid gland, and it has been previously suggested that pro‐inflammatory cytokines are involved in the disease's pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to test whether the interleukin (IL)‐6 gene promoter region, or tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α or IL‐8 gene 3′‐untranslated region (3′‐UTR) polymorphisms could provide useful genetic markers for an individual's susceptibility to GD. A normal control group of 60 healthy people and 95 patients featuring GD were examined. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based restriction analysis was performed for the three gene polymorphisms using endonucleases Bsr BI, Nco I and Apa LI, respectively. We found no significant difference between the frequencies of genotype and allelic variants for the IL‐6 gene promoter (−572 G/C), the TNF‐α gene promoter (−308 A/G) and the IL‐8 gene 3′‐UTR (2767 A/G) for GD patients and for normal controls. Cytokines are a large group of proteins that may elicit multiple effects upon immunological reactions. It still appears to be very worthwhile to continue to aggressively search for cytokine gene polymorphisms in order to predict the development of such disease.