Influence of Interleukine-1 Beta and Interleukine-1 Receptor Antagonist Genes Polymorphism on Rheumatoid Arthritis

4 Abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease with different factors contributing to the etiology and pathogenesis. IL-1 has been implicated in RA and the ability of IL-1 to drive inflammation and joint erosion and to inhibit tissue repair processes has been clearly established in in vitro systems and animal models. IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) prevents the interaction between IL-1 and its cell-surface receptors, thus acting as a naturally occurring inhibitor. The aim of this study is to assess the role of IL-1 and IL-1Ra gene polymorphism in RA disease susceptibility and severity. The study was conducted on 50 adult RA patients and 10 controls. Results indicated that IL-1 (+3953) gene polymorphism is related to RA severity, but plays no role in RA susceptibility. It was also shown that IL-1Ra gene polymorphism (IL1RN*2) plays no role in RA susceptibility or severity. Therefore the presence of allele 2 of IL-1 gene in RA might be considered as a prognostic factor for RA.