ABSTRACT
Introduction: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis [JIA] is a chronic autoimmune disease of unclear etiology. It is the most common inflammatory arthritis worldwide with major individual and health service coast. GSTs play important roles in detoxification mechanisms. It is known to be polymorphic and the presence of polymorphisms has been implicated in susceptibility of JIA
Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the association between GST gene and susceptibility to JIA
Subjects and methods: 40 patients with JIA and 40 apparently healthy controls matched with age and sex were genotyped using allelic discrimination by PCR
Results: the frequency of GSTM1 null genotype polymorphism was significantly higher in JIA patients than in controls [OR= 0.4, CI= 0.16-0.98, P= 0.04]. No significant association was found regarding GSTT1 null gene polymorphisms in JIA patients [OR= 0.417, CI- 0.15- 1.13, P= 0.8]. GSTMlnuII gene polymorphism is more prevalent in females than males [P= 0.004], whereas no significant association was found in GSTT1 gene polymorphism [p= 0.4]
Conclusion: Higher frequency of GSTMI null genotype polymorphism in patients of JIA suggesting that it might be associated with susceptibility of JIA, severity and outcome. GSTTI null gene polymorphism had no association with JIA susceptibility