Association of cytokine gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to cutaneous leishmaniasis in a Turkish population

AIMS The objective of this study was to determine the association of TNF-α -308 G/A, IFN-γ +874 T/A, IL-12B +1188 A/C, IL-10 -1082 G/A and IL-4 -590 C/T polymorphisms with susceptibility to CL. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 55 CL patients and 110 controls from Sanliurfa province, Turkey were included to this study. Polymorphisms were gentoyped by 'Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP)' and 'Amplification Refractory Mutational System-PCR (ARMS-PCR)' methods. A statistically significant diffference was noted in the allele (p<0,001, p= 0,002) and genotype (p<0.001, p= 0.001,) frequencies of TNF-α -308 G/A and IL-4 -590 C/T, respectively. TNF-α 308 GG versus GA genotype (OR=19,556 [95%CI 8,310-46,019] p<0,001), GG versus GA+AA genotype (OR=20,444 [95%CI 8,707-48,004] p<0,001) and G versus A allele (OR=6,968 [95% CI 3,903-12,440] p<0,001) revealed significant association with CL. IL-4 -590 CC versus TT+CT genotype (OR=2,049 [95%CI 1,025-4,096], p=0,041) and C versus T allele (OR=2,441 [ 95%CI 1,355-4,396], p=0,002) revealed significant association with CL. CONCLUSION Our study indicates that TNF-α 308 G/A and IL-4-590 C/T polymorphisms are significantly associated with susceptibility to CL. Individuals carrying A allele at TNF-α promoter -308 position and T allele at IL-4 promoter -590 position are at a higher risk for CL.