Interleukin-12 (-1188) A/C and interferon-γ (+874) A/T gene polymorphisms in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis patients.

The two polymorphisms [IL-12 (-1188) A/C and the IFN-γ (+874) A/T)] are known to have functional consequences and henceforth were analyzed in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) patients to reveal a possible relation with these polymorphisms and this debilitating disease. For the IL-12 (-1188) A/C polymorphism, 78 patients and 90 healthy individuals were analyzed. An increase in the AA genotype was determined (p = 0.02, OR = 2.06). There was also a statistically significant difference between the control group and the patients with respect to the allele frequencies (p = 0.04, OR = 1.65). For the IFN-γ (+874) A/T polymorphism, 69 SSPE patients and 115 controls were studied and there was not a significant difference between the two groups. Our findings suggested that not the IFN-γ (+874) A/T but the IL-12 (-1188) A/C polymorphism is correlated with SSPE and having an AA genotype or A allele decreases the risk of developing SSPE by 2.06- and 1.65-fold, respectively.