Interleukin-23 receptor gene polymorphisms is associated with dilated cardiomyopathy in Chinese Han population.

Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is characterized by ventricular chamber enlargement and systolic dysfunction with normal left ventricular wall thickness. The pathogenesis of DCM has been extensively investigated for many years, but it remains uncertain. Recently, many studies indicated that autoimmune mechanisms are likely to participate in the pathogenesis of DCM. Interleukin-23 receptor (IL-23R) gene polymorphisms have been previously found to be associated with autoimmune diseases. To assess the role of IL-23R in DCM, we examined three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IL-23R gene, namely, rs1884444, rs11465817 and rs10889677. A total of 176 DCM patients and 216 controls were included in the study, and all SNPs were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Our results showed that SNP rs10889677, but not rs1884444 and rs11465817, had association with DCM in Chinese Han population. The results suggest that IL-23R polymorphisms appear to play an important role in the susceptibility of DCM in Chinese Han population.