BACKGROUND: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Cell-mediated (Th1) immune response and humoral (Th2) immune response play different roles in leprosy infection. Interleukin 4 (IL-4) is a typical Th2 cytokine. It is a critical mediator of the Th1/Th2 balance. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to investigate the association between IL-4 gene -590T/C polymorphism and the susceptibility to leprosy in a Chinese population. METHODS: The IL-4 variant -590T/C was detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism in 432 leprosy cases and 465 age-matched healthy controls. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test. RESULTS: Frequencies of the IL-4-590TC and CC genotypes and the -590C allele were significantly lower in patients with leprosy than in healthy controls (odds ratio [OR]=0.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.55-0.99, p=0.044; OR=0.46, 95% CI 0.25-0.84, p=0.010; and OR=0.68, 95% CI 0.54-0.86, p=0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the -590T/C polymorphism of the IL-4 gene is associated with decreased susceptibility of leprosy.
BACKGROUND:Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Cell-mediated (Th1) immune response and humoral (Th2) immune response play different roles in leprosy infection. Interleukin 4 (IL-4) is a typical Th2 cytokine. It is a critical mediator of the Th1/Th2 balance. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to investigate the association between IL-4 gene -590T/C polymorphism and the susceptibility to leprosy in a Chinese population. METHODS: The IL-4 variant -590T/C was detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism in 432 leprosy cases and 465 age-matched healthy controls. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test. RESULTS: Frequencies of the IL-4-590TC and CC genotypes and the -590C allele were significantly lower in patients with leprosy than in healthy controls (odds ratio [OR]=0.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.55-0.99, p=0.044; OR=0.46, 95% CI 0.25-0.84, p=0.010; and OR=0.68, 95% CI 0.54-0.86, p=0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the -590T/C polymorphism of the IL-4 gene is associated with decreased susceptibility of leprosy.
Authors: D Wang; L Xu; L Lv; L-Y Su; Y Fan; D-F Zhang; R Bi; D Yu; W Zhang; X-A Li; Y-Y Li; Y-G Yao Journal: Genes Immun Date: 2014-12-18 Impact factor: 2.676
Authors: N Lucena-Silva; M A G Teixeira; A de L Ramos; R S de Albuquerque; G T N Diniz; C T Mendes-Junior; E C Castelli; E A Donadi Journal: Mol Genet Genomic Med Date: 2013-06-07 Impact factor: 2.183